


Ryan The Dragon Knight

by TheLOAD



Series: Ryan The Dragon [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Minecraft, Dragons, Gen, dragon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-31
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-03-04 10:56:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 43,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3065237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLOAD/pseuds/TheLOAD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Humans and Dragons don't get along well. At best dragons are predators, at worst monsters. However after a poorly thought out raid on a farm a young dragon has found himself disguised as a human and working for a king. Now he needs to find a way to live his life while hopefully keeping what he really is a secret.</p><p>Ryan is a dragon AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Discovery

The Dragon is ashamed to admit that he panicked when the other villagers showed up. But in fairness to him, he had expected it to be a quick raid. The gentle scent of the cattle had risen up from the small village and incised his interest. All he had wanted to do was go into the barn, steal a cow or two, and leave without being spotted. But the fifty foot long dragon underestimated his own size and stealth. As well as how loud cows could be. Trapped in the entry to the barn the cows created such a ruckus that the farmer soon arrived, armed with a sharp looking pitchfork. The Dragon panicked, knocked the barn in, and sent the cows running. The other villagers arrived not long after and he panicked. He knew they would be looking for a dragon, so he decided not to be one. He shrunk down into a human shape, stole the clothes off the unconscious or dead farmer, and raced after the cows into the forest.

Not he best move, but not bad overall.

Even in his new body, the cows knew what he was. They mooed anxiously as he approached them, shying away from his new and uncertain hands. The Dragon backed off and watched them as they made their way through the forest, following just far enough behind to keep them from panicking. But no matter how far from them he stood, none seemed willing to tolerate his presence. None, that is, but one. A chocolate brown cow with white patches seemed perfectly fine with his presence, moving close to her and letting him pet her soft muzzle. Even as the other cows wandered away, back to the farm or into neighboring herds, this one stayed by his side and he went deeper into the forest, just trying to escape.

After a few days of travel his new body started to feel fatigued, threatening to undo itself and force him into his old shape. By the fourth day he was shaking and thought he was going to be ill. Stripping down and folding the clothes off to the side, he allowed himself to change back for a moment. Just to rest in the sun besides his new cow, who stayed by him even as his form became more sinister. Her soft moos and warm scent were calming and slowly he allowed sleep to claim him for a moment.

———————————————

The cow’s mooing woke him a few hours later. Unlike her usual soothing hum these sounds were panicked. The Dragon awoke with a start and looked around for what could have upset her. Off in the distance he heard what it was. People. Panicking once again he shrunk back down into his human body and threw on the clothes he had stolen, a button up shirt and an odd sort of plaid skirt. He had barely managed to get dressed when two men on horses appeared before him. One was a large man with an equally large beard. He was covered in dyed leather armor and had a diamond sword at his side, the glow of which indicated an enchantment. To his right was another man dressed in green armor, maybe emerald or maybe some foreign metal, with a black cape around his shoulders and a gold crown upon his head. The Dragon’s breath caught in his throat and he took a step back. He knew what a crown meant, and he knew kings rarely tolerated his kind.

"Got a name, Stranger?" The King asked, his eyes hard. The Dragon swallowed and wet his lips, unsure how to speak in this new and unfamiliar form.

"The king asked you a question," the bearded man said, hand going to his sword. The Dragon’s eyes darted around, trying to think of something before noticing the chewing of the horses and the forest that surrounded them.

"Haywood," he said finally, his voice hoarse. "My name is Haywood." The king raised an eyebrow at this, looking over.

"Got a first name?" He asked, reaching into his saddlebag and pulling out a carrot for his horse. "Or is Haywood it?" The Dragon wet his lips, trying to think of what sort of names humans had. He had heard a few in passing while flying over villages, but they had never really stuck.

"James?" He offered, hoping it was actually a name. "Ryan?" He added, trying another.

"Well which is it?" The bearded man asked, taking his hand away from his sword and leaning a bit on his horse. "Is your name James or Ryan?" The bearded man’s horse whinnied nervously and pawed at the ground, earning an "Easy Patches" from the rider.

"Both," the Dragon answered. "James Ryan Haywood." He paused, going over the name in his head. "But I prefer just Ryan."

"Well just Ryan," the King said. "I take it you aren’t from around here. Since…y’know…" he motioned towards his crown. "You aren’t bowing or nothing."

"I’m not," the Dragon, Ryan, confessed. "I’ve been traveling with my cow for a few days now. I…admittedly do not know where I am." His cow mooed softly and nosed at the bearded man’s saddlebag, evidently smelling something good in there. The man patted her on the snout and pulled out a carrot, giving it to her.

"I take it this is your cow," he said, letting her eat the carrot from his hand. "Does she have a name?"

"Edgar," Ryan said, picking the first name that came into his head. The king looked at him.

"You named your cow Edgar?" He asked, looking from Ryan to the cow and back again. "Alright…It’s your cow."

"Yeah," Ryan said, patting the cow’s nose as she came back over to him. "She is." He looked around, still trying to adjust to the bizarre, near colorless world humans lived in. "So…where exactly is here? And who are you?"

"Achievement Kingdom," the King said. "I’m King Geoffrey Ramsey. Most people just call me King Geoff. This is Jack, my Hand." Something told Ryan that was something he should know about, so he decided not to ask.

"Alright," he said. He added a bow, deciding that the King may be someone he should keep happy. "Apologies, my Liege. I am rather lost and stunned at the moment."

"Do you have a place to live?" The bearded man, Jack, asked. Ryan weighed his options before shaking his head. "Do you need one?" Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"Pardon?" He asked.

"He asked if you needed a place to live," Geoff said. "If you’re in my kingdom that means you’re one of my citizens. And I’m not letting one of my citizens go without a home."

Ryan thought about it for a moment. He wasn’t really sure where he wanted to go with this. He could turn them down, say he was only a traveler, but that may raise suspicions. Or he could see what they were willing to offer but find himself trapped or worse when they learned what he was. He pet Edgar’s snout once more, enjoying the feel of the soft velvet. He needed to find something to do with her, since eating her felt almost wrong after spending this much time with her.

"What do you have to offer?" He asked. Jack and Geoff exchanged a look, as though they weren’t entirely sure themselves.

"Well…" Geoff started before stopping. He looked around before settling on the cow. "You’re good with animals?" Ryan shrugged.

"I’m decent," he said. Edgar let out a low moo, nosing his hand. "Though Edgar seems to think I’m better than decent."

"Kerry could use some help in the stables," Jack said. Geoff scoffed.

"We could use someone in the stables who’s actually an adult," he said. "Kerry is younger than The Lads." He turned back to Ryan. "How does this sound. We give you a place to live within the walls of the castle, and in exchange you take care of the castle livestock. The cows, sheep, horses, and such. Think you can do that?" Ryan was about to agree when he froze, thinking about what he was for a moment. He couldn’t keep this body up forever, and at the moment it was rather hard to stay in it at all. He flexed his hand, looking at it. Even in this body he was far stronger than the average human, and he couldn’t trust himself not to let that show. He looked back at the king.

"That sounds wonderful, My liege," he said. "But…I have two requests." Geoff looked him over.

"What are they?" He asked.

"The first is that I be granted every New Moon off. I need it for personal reasons that I would rather not go into." He noticed the king raise an eyebrow and took a deep breath, hoping he wasn’t damning himself already. "The second is that every night I be allowed to have three potions of strength. They will help with my duties to you, sire, and I have a personal belief surrounding them. I know the resources for potions are difficult to come by, and dangerous as well, but if you grant me this request I swear that I will gather them myself, on my own time. I will not be a burden to you, My King." He bowed low, trying to add a touch of humbleness to the request. Geoff was quiet for a moment before speaking.

"I suppose those are reasonable enough," he said. "And if you’re gathering the materials yourself you’re already pulling more weight than Jeremy is….I don’t know, what do you think, Jack." Ryan looked up at the Hand, holding his breath as the man looked him over. There was something friendly about his eyes, that was certain, but there was something clever too, and that put Ryan on edge. Finally the man shrugged.

"I think we could make it work," he said. "We can at least try." Geoff grinned, reaching down and shaking Ryan’s hand.

"Great!" He said. "Welcome to Achievement Kingdom, Buddy." Ryan returned the smile, relaxing as Geoff and Jack motioned for him to follow them to his new home.


	2. The Castle and The Lads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan is shown around the castle and meets some of its inhabitants.

The walk back to the castle was calm and uneventful. Ryan did not have a horse, so Jack and Geoff rode theirs slow enough so that Ryan and Edgar could keep up. Geoff had joked that next time they should bring a spare saddle so that Ryan could just ride Edgar and the Dragon-man had chuckled, an unfamiliar sound but one that slipped out of his new body with surprising ease. He knew deep down that he had reason to be cautious around these men, but he found something about them disarming. The King was a cheerful man who smelt faintly of ink and rather strongly of barley and Jack seemed overall jovial and kind, stopping momentarily on their walk back to observe a butterfly. But as kind though they may seem Ryan still did not want them to discover what he was. He doubted they would have greeted him as warmly as they did had they found a dragon beside the cow instead of a man.

The castle was larger than Ryan had expected, a massive stone fortress surrounded by walls taller than his dragon shape was. Soldiers marched around the walls, covered in armor of various sorts and wielding a wide range of weapons. Ryan watched them move, licking his lips a bit anxiously. Jack must have noticed, because he followed Ryan’s gaze before speaking.

"We’ve been having issues with The Endermen," he said. "Figured some extra security couldn’t hurt." Ryan thought of the odd, black creatures that flitted in and out of existence. They had never given him much trouble, but he supposed things may be different between them and humans. Perhaps he had reminded them of The Ender Dragon, the ancient creature that ruled their home realm.

"It’s weird as dicks," Geoff said. "They never used to be this aggressive. I think someone has pissed them off. Or maybe they’re just getting bolder."

"Are they dangerous?" Ryan asked. "I’ve never had to fight one before."

"They can be," Jack said. "They usually ignore you if you ignore them, but once they’re fighting they can flee in seconds. They’re damned strong, too. I’d avoid fighting one if you can manage." Ryan nodded, watching the soldiers.

"Duly noted."

———————

The interior of the castle was grander than Ryan had expected. The massive stone building had banners everywhere, depicting a golden tower on a green background with the word “Achieve” written beneath it. The walls were smooth, polished stone, clearly well maintained and carefully pulled from the earth. The wooden doors, crafted from redwood, it seemed, were large enough for Ryan to fit through with room to spare. His eyes wandered, looking at the stained glass windows, depicting everything from roses and towers of gold to bears and creepers. Geoff noticed his eyes wandering and just laughed.

"Those were The Lads’ idea," he said. "And they gathered the glass themselves so I figured why not."

"The Lads?" Ryan asked, turning to him. Geoff had mentioned them before, when offering Ryan a job in the castle stables. But he still didn’t know who they were or how important they may be.

"The princes," Geoff explained. "Jack and I found them in a destroyed village, creeper attack, and took them in. And until I marry and have kids of my own they’re the heirs to the throne." Princes. Right. Ryan knew about princes and princesses and he knew they were important. Knowing that there were three in the castle made him suddenly anxious, causing him to look around to see if they may be near. But no one walked near them seemed overly royal, and he figured that like the king the princes, The Lads, would at least have a crown.

Geoff and Jack walked him to two large doors, grander than other doors within the castle and carved with flowers and crowns. “This is my throne room,” Geoff said, taking the handle to open the door. Ryan didn’t know what a throne was, but he didn’t ask. If it was important enough to require a room, then it would hopefully be obvious what the throne was.

The second the doors were open Geoff, Jack, and Ryan were hit by a cloud of acrid smoke, smelling strongly of burning herbs. Ryan coughed, swatting the smoke aside as the other two did the same. Once his face was clear he looked into the room, curious as to the cause.

Sitting on a massive golden chair covered in slithering rose vines was a young man. He had dark skin and black hair, sporting a small beard and wearing glasses. He wore a black suit with a white vest and had a grand, black and red cape around his shoulders, trimmed with gold and embroidered with roses. He was draped over the chair, smoking something as an ocelot prowled around him, carrying a human head which would occasionally exhale smoke instead of the boy.

"Ray!" Geoff shouted, growing red in the face. "What have I told you about using the goddamn throne!?" Ryan stepped back, waiting for the boy to respond to his angered king.

The boy only shrugged, smoking some more. “YOLO.” Ryan could only stare, not believing the insolence of whomever this was. Geoff huffed, walked over to the young man, and grabbed him by his shirt collar and the waist of his pants, hauling him up and tossing him off of the throne and into the center of the room.

"Parkour!" He shouted, as though that would have prevented him from landing flat on his face. It didn’t and he hit the floor with a heavy thump, though some of the rose vines had formed beneath him to cushion his fall. He stood up with a huff, brushing himself off and motioning for the ocelot. "C’mon, Percival. Let’s find Gavin and Michael." He walked out the door without another room, leaving the king red in the face.

"Goddamn it Ray," the king growled. "Now I need to air out the entire throne room. Again!" He added, yelling after the boy. He huffed, looking around. "Jack can you show Ryan around? I need to get rid of this smoke and these vines. Oh!" He removed his crown and tossed it to Jack. "And make me a new crown. A bigger one, that’s silver and has emeralds." Jack caught the crown and looked at his king.

"Geoff why do you need a bigger crown?" He asked. "I’m your Hand this shouldn’t be my job."

"You’re also the castle blacksmith, buddy," Geoff said. "And I say I need a better crown. Ryan didn’t recognize me as the king I need a bigger one." Jack sighed.

"Very well," he said. He motioned for Ryan to follow him. "Come on. I’ll show you around the castle." Ryan followed him, tenser than he was before and more than a little confused.

"Who was that?" He asked. "And is he in trouble?" Jack just laughed.

"That was Ray," he said. "He’s the youngest Lad. And Geoff would punish him if he didn’t have such a soft spot for the boys. He’ll just huff and puff for a bit then calm down. Maybe kick their ass if they’re close enough but nothing too bad. Nothing they can’t handle." Ryan stopped.

"That was one of the princes?" He asked, stunned. Of everything he had heard he never expected a prince to be like that. Though to be fair, he had never expected a king like Geoff either. But if Ray was a prince what must the other two be like? Maybe if he was the youngest the other two would be more mature.

"Yup!" Jack said, cheerful. "Prince Ray Narvaez Junior, Castle Sorcerer in Training. If you see any overly aggressive roses around, they’re his. He was trying to grow them and it got out of hand."

"I guess that explains that weird head…" Ryan said.

"Pat," Jack chimed in. "The head’s name is Pat. Pat the Head and Percival the Ocelot. Percival’s his familiar. It’s an animal that helps a sorcerer."

"And the Ocelot is Ray’s?" Ryan asked. He tried to think about how a cat could help cast spells and figured maybe all it did was carry Pat around.

"He used to have a chicken named Conrad but Percival ate it," Jack explained. "So now Percival is Ray’s familiar."

"Alright," Ryan said. He looked at the crown in Jack’s hand. "What’s your job, exactly?" Jack gave a sort of half sigh half chuckle.

"Officially I’m The Hand," he said. "I help Geoff deal with important matters like war, finances, ruling the kingdom if he’s busy and so on. Unofficially, I’m the castle blacksmith and gardener. I like doing both of them so I usually take care of it. And Geoff doesn’t trust anyone else to make his crown. Although…" he looked at the crown "I wish he didn’t get bored of these so easily. Hopefully the next one will stick for longer than a month or two. This is getting ridiculous. I’ve put more gold into crowns than Geoff has into Towers."

"Towers?" Ryan asked. Jack shrugged.

"You’ll see one eventually," He said simply. "They’re all over the kingdom." The thought of gold towers all over the kingdom excited Ryan. He always had liked gold and now he wondered if he’d be able to steal pieces of one of the towers without being noticed. He was brought out of his thoughts, however, when him and Jack approached the sounds of a woman cursing and a man being bludgeoned. Sure enough as they rounded the corner they came across a female knight with auburn hair holding a male knight in a headlock and punching him in the stomach.

"Teach you to make my cat invisible," she huffed, not noticing the new arrivals as her quarry tried to escape. Jack watched for a moment before clearing his throat. She looked up and nodded, smiling slightly. "Oh hey, Jack. Michael’s in the kitchen skinning a boar if you want him." Jack shook his head.

"I’m not looking for Michael," he said. "I’m giving Ryan here a tour of the castle. He’s going to be joining Kerry in the stables." Lindsay nodded.

"Hey, Ryan," she said, oddly friendly for someone beating up another knight. "I’m Lindsay. This is Jeremy." Jeremy waved.

"Hello," he said before Lindsay punched him one last time and dropped him.

"Now help me find my cat, asshole," she said as he got to his feet. He swayed for a bit before following her.

"Um…" Ryan started, but Jack was talking before he had the chance to ask a question.

"Jeremy likes to make things invisible," he said. "It can get old pretty quickly. Don’t let Lindsay scare you, though. She’s not that big of a bully and she’s nice if you know her."

"Think Jeremy will come after Edgar?" Ryan asked, petting the cow’s soft nose. Jack nodded.

"I guarantee that your cow will end up invisible at least once," he said. "Speaking of your cow, I think we should drop her off by the stables before we continue the tour. She could get injured in the archery field if we aren’t careful." Ryan pulled Edgar closer.

"Would anyone shoot her on purpose?" He asked as the cow started to lick his hand in what he assumed was her trying to soothe him.

"Not on purpose but accidents happen," Jack said. "And some people in this castle are accident prone." Ryan nodded. "Alright. Show me to the stables."

————  
"Got something for you, Kerry," Jack said, nudging Edgar into the stables and towards a very short boy who Ryan assumed must be Kerry. "I have someone else for you too, but I’m not done showing him around yet. This is Ryan." Kerry stepped forward and shook Ryan’s hand, an odd gesture Ryan didn’t understand but matched anyway.

"Hey Ryan," Kerry said. "Is this your cow?" Ryan nodded.

"Uh yeah," he said. "Her name’s Edgar. Jack said I could put here here while he showed me around. So that no accidents happened."

"Accidents named Gavin?" Kerry asked Jack, who only nodded.

"He’s good with a bow," Jack said, a bit of mischievous humor in his voice, "but he’s still Gavin. And we probably shouldn’t start Ryan’s first day in the castle by murdering his pet." Edgar mooed and knocked Kerry over going back to Ryan. Ryan ran a hand through his hair and offered Kerry a hand, lifting him to his feet.

"Sorry about that," he said. "She hasn’t been away from me in a while. We were sort of travelling the woods together. You’re Kerry? I think I’m going to be helping you in the stables once the tour is done."

"You start tomorrow," Jack said. "Give you a chance to rest tonight." Ryan shrugged, smiling at Kerry.

"Tomorrow it is then," he said. "Uh…take care of Edgar until I come back. Try not to let her wander after me." Kerry pulled out some wheat and offered it to Edgar, who willingly left Ryan’s side to get the treat.

"No problem, Ryan," Kerry said, petting the cow as he fed her. "I can handle Edgar. Enjoy the tour and I look forward to working with you tomorrow." Ryan smiled.

"I look forward to working with you as well," he said. He pet Edgar one last time before turning to leave with Jack. "Who’s Gavin?" He asked as the man led him down the hall.

"You’ll see," Jack said. "If Ray and Michael are here then Gavin should be somewhere. Just look for lava or explosives and you should be good." Ryan was suddenly happy that they decided to leave Edgar behind. Jack led him down a few halls before stopping at a room full of potions and bandages and knocking on the open door. "Caleb. Have someone for you to meet." The young man in the room, who looked to be about Ray and Kerry’s age, turned. He was wearing white clothes with a dark, blood stained apron on.

"Hey," he said, holding his hand out to shake. "I’m Caleb. Resident Healer-In-Training." Ryan shook his hand.

"Ryan," he said. "I’m going to help Kerry in the stables."

"If you’re ever injured come see Caleb," Jack said. "But don’t take him with you if you go fishing. Bastard will steal your fish." Caleb shrugged and frowned.

"That was one time, Jack," he said. "And I didn’t steal the fish I moved them. It’s different."

"It doesn’t matter," Jack said. "You still messed everything up. We wee trying to have a competition and you ruined the count." Ryan rubbed his neck.

"No fishing with Caleb," he said, hoping to stop a fight. "Got it." He looked at Caleb. "Do you handle the potions?" He asked, thinking back to the deal he had made.

"I handle some of them," Caleb said. "Jeremy usually makes his own."

"Alright," Ryan said. "Because I need three Potions of Strength every night. I’m willing to get the materials myself on my own time, but for tonight I’ll need you to make them for me." Caleb shot Jack a look, who only shrugged.

"Any reason you need them?" Caleb asked. "That seems like an odd thing to drink before bed." Ryan wet his lips, going silent for a moment as Caleb and Jack looked at him.

"Personal beliefs," he said finally, unable to think of anything better. "They’re complicated and I don’t want to get into them right now. Is…is that alright?" Caleb looked to Jack again, who after a moment nodded.

"Jack says it’s fine so sure," Caleb said. "I’ll have three potions ready for you by tonight." Ryan grinned.

"Great," he said. "Thank you."

"No problem," Caleb replied. "See you around, though hopefully not too much in here. And watch out for Hidalgo. He kicks." Ryan frowned.

"I…will?" He replied, having no idea who or what Hidalgo was. Jack tapped his shoulder and motioned for him to follow.

"Come on," he said. "There’s a lot of castle to see. Talk to you later, Caleb." Ryan followed him, trying to think of who Hidalgo was before just deciding he’d find out eventually.

———-

After showing him various rooms in the castle Jack led Ryan outside into the gardens. There was a courtyard in the center of the castle full of trees and flowers of various kinds, including trees from distant forests and more roses that looked ready to murder people.

"More of Ray’s?" Ryan asked, kicking at a thorn covered vine that was snaking its way towards him.

"I have to burn them once a month but they always come back," Jack replied. "I’m just happy they don’t choke out everything else in the gardens. It took forever to get some of these trees."

"I don’t recognize some of them," Ryan said, looking at a tree that had a diagonal trunk and layered branches. "Where do they come from?"

"Those are acacia," Jack said. "Geoff had some saplings imported in from a savanna. It took forever to get them to grow. I gave the first few too much water and the next batch not enough. I finally got these ones to take."

"I take it you run the gardens, then," Ryan said, walking through the courtyard, stopping to look at the flowers or a a fountain.

"It’s a hobby," Jack said. "Blacksmithing was a hobby but now Geoff doesn’t trust anyone but me to do it. So it’s sort of an unofficial title. The King’s Hand and Maker of His Crap." Ryan laughed and so did Jack, the man’s laugh being higher in pitch than Ryan’s even though their voices seemed about the same. He continued walking, relaxed in the courtyard, listening to the sound of the fountains and the calls of the various birds. He heard one he couldn’t recognize, an odd half squeaking sound but shrugged it off.

Suddenly, much faster than he would have thought the man capable of moving, Jack was at his side, arm raised to deflect an arrow harmlessly to the side. Ryan tensed, facing the direction of the attack. He heard a sound similar to the bird, only this time it sounded more like someone about to lose their shit than a bird. He inched out from behind Jack, who was glaring at at tree, and followed his gaze.

Tangled in the vines on the tree was a young man, about the same age as most everyone else Ryan had met in the castle. He had sandy blonde hair and was dressed in what looked to be the colors of a creeper, or maybe even the skin of one, with green trousers and a green scarf. He had gold boots on, which hummed faintly with an enchantment. In one hand was an enchanted bow and over his back was a quiver, which due to him currently being trapped upside down was dumping arrows all over the place.

"Bloody Hell, Jack," he said with an odd accent, grinning as though he hadn’t almost murdered someone. "That was top!" Jack grumbled and drew his sword, stepping towards the young man. The man gulped and for a moment Ryan thought he was about to watch an execution. But instead Jack unceremoniously cut the vines, dropping him to the earth.

"You’re lucky I know what your sounds mean," Jack said, picking the boy up and placing him onto his feet. "What were you doing anyway?" The boy rubbed his head.

"I was out for a little walk," he said, "since my boi was out with Lindsay and Ray had taken over the throne room. I thought I’d do a little arrow practice but I got a bit bored, so I was climbing the trees. I saw a tree chicken and tried to shoot it but missed and almost hit you and this other guy instead." Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose, groaning.

"This other guy," he said, "is Ryan. He’s going to be working with Kerry in the stables. So try not to shoot him." Ryan stepped forward.

"Hey," he said, offering his hand to whomever this was. The boy took his hand and shook it.

"Hello Ryan!" He said. "I’m Gavin." Ryan gave a crooked smile, now very grateful that Jack had made him leave Edgar back with Kerry.

"I’ve heard about you," he said, the smile leaving his face. Gavin frowned, taking his hand back and looking at Jack, who cleared his throat and coughed.

"Gavin is the second eldest Prince," he said, and Ryan suddenly felt a bit uneasy about not being friendlier. But Gavin only puffed out his chest and grinned.

"Damn right, I am!" He beamed. "Second in line after my boi Micool." He smiled. "Though I think Geoff likes me best. Plan G and all. No one is going to take the castle thanks to us." Jack exhaled.

"Fuck I forgot about Plan G," he said. He turned to Ryan. "Don’t hit any unusual buttons. Alright?"

"Why…?" Ryan asked, thoroughly confused.

"Because this asshole," Jack pointed his thumb towards Gavin, "and the asshole in charge of this kingdom have TNT stored under the castle." Ryan’s eyes went wide.

"Alright no buttons," he said. "Completely understood."

"Aw come on, Jack," Gavin said. "Plan G is top. No one will take the castle thanks to it." Jack pointed at himself with his thumb.

"But _**I**_ have to clean up the mess,” he said, giving Ryan an indication that Plan G may have been triggered once or twice before.

"Geoff and I help!" Gavin squawked, indignant. "We do we get all the bloody stone!" Ryan backed off, going to look at around while Jack and Gavin argued about something to do with lava in someone’s ceiling. Once he was out of sight he collapsed against a tree, sighing and trying to think.

He had known humans were odd, with their soft skin and short lives they had to be. But he never expected this. They had rulers who acted more dazed goats and heirs who took over entire rooms and who shot arrows at nothing. They placed explosives in their own homes and turned everything around them invisible. He had thought that this would be an interesting change of pace, but now he was just worried someone would kill him by accident. But damn if Jack and Geoff hadn’t seemed so genuinely friendly when they met him in the woods. He was a stranger with a cow. They didn’t have to offer him a home and a job. They could have left him where they found him or even killed him and taken Edgar. But they didn’t. They had offered him help without a second thought.

A hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw Jack standing there.

"Gavin had to go do something," the man said. "Want to continue the tour?" Ryan nodded, standing up. Jack watched him, frowning a bit. "Something wrong?" He asked. Ryan shook his head, fixing his hair.

"Just overwhelmed," he said. "I’m not used to all of this. I’ve never lived in a castle before and it’s…it’s…"

"Not what you were expecting?" Jack asked, to which Ryan could only nod. Jack patted him on the back, giving him a warm smile. "You’ll get used to it. Geoff’s an odd one, and he seems to attract people just as odd, but he knows what he’s doing. He’s a good king, you’ll see."

"I don’t doubt that," Ryan said. "It’s still odd. But I guess you’re right. I’ll adjust." Jack removed his hand from Ryan’s back.

"Ready to go?" He asked. Ryan nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "I want to see the rest of the castle."

—————-

The rest of the castle was much like the part Ryan had already seen, only these rooms seemed dedicated more towards housing those who lived directly in the castle. Jack had explained that all of the knights and squires lived in the castle, while much of the staff, like Kerry or Caleb, slept in their own houses on the castle grounds.

"I take it I’m getting a house, then," Ryan said. "Is it a far walk?"

"Ten minutes at most," Jack said. "It’s not bad at all. Do you have a preference for materials? We have wood, stone, brick, and dirt houses." Ryan thought for a moment.

"Any is fine," he said. "Just give me one that isn’t too close to everyone else. I like my privacy."

"I think I can manage that," Jack said. "There’s a small dirt house that could work. It’s a bit further down the path than the others, but not too bad. Remote but still easily accessed. How does that sound?" Ryan smiled.

"Sounds good," he said. He stopped when his stomach growled, frowning. "Guess I forgot to eat today," he said, unsure about how his new body needed to be fed. As a dragon he could get by with a large meal every other week. But his raid on the farm had been a failure unless one counted Edgar, and he hadn’t eaten since then. Jack laughed, thumping him on the back again. Ryan staggered a bit, not expecting the action and being a bit caught off guard by the man’s strength.

"Dinner’s soon," he said. "Probably about fifteen minutes. Hope you like boar."

"I do like boar…" Ryan said, thinking about the aggressive, dark furred pigs.

"Good," Jack said. "Michael only brings home the best when he goes hun-" Jack was cut off by the sound of a room down the hall exploding in a cloud of smoke and gunpowder. There was a heavy silence after the explosion before…

"GAVIN YOU FUCK!" A voice yelled. It was followed by a sound Ryan recognized as Gavin, only it sounded much more panicked than before. From out of area of the explosion Gavin came running, making his odd noises as he did. From out of the now destroyed room came a young man, with curly hair and dressed in the skin of a bear. He was covered in soot and looked furious, carrying a diamond sword in one hand as he tore down the hall after Gavin. Gavin ran past Ryan and Jack without even slowing down to acknowledge him and the other boy followed in hot pursuit, looking ready to cut Gavin open. Ryan moved to follow but Jack held an arm out, stopping him.

"That’s Michael," Jack explained. "The Eldest Lad and first in line for the throne. Gavin should live." Ryan watched as Michael chased Gavin down the hall, directly towards a room that was covered in roses and seemed to be made out of dirt for some reason. The door opened and Ray stepped out, only to throw his hands up in alarm as he saw his fellow princes heading towards him.

"No my shitty room is going to be even shittier!" He cried out right before Gavin crashed into him, followed closely by Michael tackling the pile. Ryan just stared, stunned.

"…. ** _Those_** are the heirs??” He asked, incredulous. Jack gestured to them grandly, smiling.

"Tada!"

Ryan was dumbfounded. He thought that Ray had been a fluke, then when he met Gavin he figured at least the eldest would be somewhat mature. But no, currently all three princes were in a pile on the floor, with Michael apparently trying his best to pin Gavin down so he could cut his head off.

"Aaah Michael!" The scrawny boy cried, trying to wriggle free. Michael sat firmly down on him, though Ryan noticed he shifted aside to allow Ray up at least, and drove the handle of his sword into Gavin’s face, smiling rather meanly.

"Should we…?" Ryan started, motioning towards the scuffle. Jack only shook his head.

"Let’s just head to the dining hall," he said. "You can properly meet Michael after he’s done kicking Gavin’s ass."

"And you’re sure he won’t kill him?" Ryan asked, following Jack as he moved away from the Lads and down a set of stairs.

"He hasn’t killed him yet and Gavin burned his tent down once," Jack said. "Gavin has a talent for finding lava." Ryan looked down at his hand, wondering if his new body could be burned or not before deciding that was something he could test later.

"What’s Michael like?" Ryan asked, looking back. "He seems…angry."

"He can be," Jack said. "But really he’s a good kid. Don’t let the current beating fool you, him and Gavin are actually close friends. But Michael has a temper and he’s a terror in battle. Ever heard of a berserker?" Ryan shook his head. "They’re warriors who lose themselves in a battle frenzy. They’re merciless in combat and won’t stop until they’re either dead, too injured to carry on, or have nothing left to fight. But there’s a downside to it. A berserker in a frenzy can’t tell friend from foe." Jack took off his greaves and rolled his sleeves up, showing two matching scars about halfway up his forearms. "I was the only thing left alive near Michael, and he hadn’t come out of his frenzy yet. He tried to cleave my skull in two but I’m faster than I look." Ryan cautiously reached out, touching the scar when Jack didn’t move away.

"Does he know?" Ryan asked. Jack nodded, rolling his sleeves back down and replacing his greaves.

"He feels terrible about it, too," Jack said. "He’s not a bad kid, he’s just vicious in combat and that’s something we need to be careful of."

Jack then opened a door and led Ryan into a large hall, full of tables. Sitting at one at the head of the room was Geoff, who was slouching and drinking from an emerald chalice. Sitting at another table, near the corner, was Lindsay, Jeremy, and a knight Ryan did not recognize. Lindsay was petting what appeared to be nothing while the mystery knight was surrounded by wolves. Lindsay noticed Ryan and Jack enter the room and motioned them over at the same time Geoff yelled “Jack! Did you finish my crown?!” Jack nudged Ryan in the direction of Lindsay while he went to go speak to the king. Ryan swallowed and made his way over.

"Hey Ryan," Lindsay said. "I heard Gavin almost put an arrow in your head. Not the best greeting, huh?" Ryan sat down and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Could have been worse," he said. He looked at the wolf knight and cleared his throat. "I…uh…don’t think we’ve met. I’m Ryan, the new stable hand." He held out his hand, with the young knight shook.

"I’m Matt," he said. He then motioned to his wolves. "These are Sprinkles and Sprunkles…" he frowned, thinking for a moment. "Actually I don’t have names for all of them…sometimes can’t feed them all…"

"Then stop taming every wolf you see, Matt," Lindsay scolded. She then gestured to the blank space she was petting, which Ryan could now see had an odd magical distortion around it. "Well, if we’re introducing pets, this is my cat Banjo." The distortion meowed, making Ryan blink. "He’s currently invisible thanks to Jeremy." Jeremy shrugged before tossing a potion at Matt’s wolves.

"It doesn’t hurt them," he said as Matt stared at him horrified.

"I have a cow," Ryan said. "Her name’s Edgar. I think she’s in the stables right now."

"Probably giving Kerry a hard time," Jeremy said. At that moment the doors opened and Caleb and Kerry came in, going over to the table Ryan and the others were sitting at and sitting down.

"So how was not working today?" Caleb asked.

"You didn’t work either," Matt said. "No one was injured."

"Well actually I think Michael is going to kill Gavin," Ryan mumbled, causing the others to look at him.

"Guess that explains the explosion," Kerry said. He turned towards Ryan. "Edgar is fine, by the way. You can get her after dinner." Ryan smiled.

"Thanks," he said. He went quiet as everyone talked, taking the moment to be alone with his thoughts. He was starting to feel worn out and he swallowed, closing his eyes and focusing on keeping himself steady. It wouldn’t do to transform, not now and not in front of the king and a decent amount of his soldiers. He swallowed again and breathed in and out a few times, trying to settle his heartbeat. Only when he opened his eyes did he realize everyone at the table was looking at him.

"Uh…are you alright?" Lindsay asked. Ryan nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah…" he lied. "Just a headache. And tired. It’s been a long day." He turned his head when the doors opened once more, and The Lads entered. Ray seemed fine, if a bit annoyed, Michael seemed furious, and Gavin had a split lip and what looked to be the makings of a black eye. Geoff looked over in their direction as well and snickered.

"What happened, buddy?" He asked Gavin, his voice taking on a falsely concerned tone that was more than a little mocking. Michael fumed next to Gavin, answering before his adoptive brother could.

"HE FUCKING BLEW UP MY ROOM WITH TNT!" Michael shouted, causing Ray and Gavin to flinch away from the sudden noise. Geoff just burst out laughing, doubling over in his seat with tears coming to his eyes. Michael huffed and sat down at the table in front of Geoff’s, with Ray and Gavin sitting beside him. Gavin ducked his head when Michael moved, making an odd, distressed sort of laughing sound.

"You’re my boi, Michael," he said, waiting to see how the other Prince would respond. Michael huffed but ultimately relaxed a bit.

"And you’re my boi," Michael replied. His eyes then turned towards the table Ryan was sitting at and he stood up, making his way over.

"Hey Lindsay," he said, sitting down across from the female knight, any sign of his earlier rage gone.

"Hey Michael," Lindsay said. "Heard Gavin blew up your room again." Michael shrugged nonchalantly, as though he hadn’t just kicked the other boy’s ass for the offense.

"Eh it’s not too bad," he said. "Just some extra dust and stone everywhere." He then noticed Ryan and turned. "Who’s the new guy?" He asked. Ryan bowed his head, not meeting the prince’s eyes.

"Ryan Haywood, My Prince," he said. "I’m the new stable hand."

"What are you bowing for, asshole?" Michael asked. "You didn’t bow to Gav or Ray, did you?" Ryan shook his head, lifting it.

"I did not," he confessed. "They seemed preoccupied when I met them."

"Then don’t bow to me," Michael said. "You’re the new stable hand? Maybe you can actually take care of Hidalgo, then. Instead of the shit job Kerry does. Right Kerry?" He looked at the stable boy.

"Hidalgo likes me just fine," Kerry said. "The only one he doesn’t kick is you or Lindsay." Micheal nodded, smiling.

"Hidalgo knows what’s up," he said. He stood up then before turning back to Lindsay. "Meet me after dinner," he told her. "I want to practice my sword."

"I’ll kick your ass," Lindsay said, smiling as Michael walked away.

———-

Dinner had passed by relatively uneventfully, at least when it came to the rest of the castle staff. Gavin had explained how he had replaced the hook that Michael used to hang his bear skin with a lever which he had then rigged to TNT. Not enough to completely destroy the room but enough to crumble the ceiling and crack the floor. Geoff had laughed the whole time, at one point reducing himself to complete tears and struggling to catch his breath.

Ryan had tried to enjoy the company but it was late and his body was feeling increasingly worn as time went on. He managed to swallow a bit of the stew down that was being served for dinner but his discomfort and exhaustion had crushed what appetite he had possessed. Halfway through dinner he had excused himself and went out into the hall, bracing himself against a wall and struggling to catch his breath. His head swam and more than once he had to force his body to stay in the form it was in, a momentous task that left him shaking and drenched in sweat. It took him about twenty minutes before he could re-enter the room, and when he did he could feel Jack’s eyes upon him, a worried look in the man’s gaze.

When dinner ended Ryan got up and headed towards the stable to fetch Edgar. The cow, who was standing in the corner happily munching on hay, let out a low moo and went to him the second she smelled him, licking his hand and nosing at him. Ryan pet her snout, closing his eyes and trying to calm down.

"Looks like she missed you," he heard Jack say. He spun around and saw the other man leaning in the doorway.

"yYeah," Ryan said, petting her nose. "Looks like Kerry took care of her, though," he added with an uneasy smile. Jack stepped forward and pet the cow.

"He’s good with the animals," he said. "Hey, are you alright? You seemed off at dinner."

"Yeah I’m fine," Ryan said. "Just worn out. It’s been a long day and I sort of just want to go to sleep." Jack nodded.

"Let me show you to your house then," he said. "It’s a bit of a walk but it shouldn’t be too bad. Can you manage?"

"Yeah I should be able to," he said. "I’m not that worn out." _Just a walk,_ he told himself. _You can manage that; you can lose control once you’re alone._ At least he hoped he could. There was the risk of his new home being too close to the others.

—————

The walk hadn’t been that bad, though it certainly seemed that way to Ryan. By the time he reached his new home, a dirt shack covered in paintings of people fighting, he was struggling to stand and struggling even harder to hide that from Jack.

"Here you are," Jack said, handing Ryan the keys to the wooden door. "Kung Fu House." Ryan took the keys, looking it over. "Geoff named it, not me."

"It will do," Ryan said, unlocking the door. The place was rather barren, with only a few chests and a bed, but he didn’t need much else. He would only be sleeping here. Edgar mooed and shoved her way through the door, laying down in the center of the floor and looking at him. Before he could follow her inside Jack grabbed his arm, holding out a bag.

"Caleb wanted me to give this to you," he said. "They’re your potions." Ryan took the bag gratefully.

"Thanks," he said. "So…guess I’ll see you around tomorrow."

"If you need any help you can come find me," Jack said. "But until then have a good night." Ryan nodded.

"You too," he said, watching the other man leave before going into the house and slamming the door behind him, collapsing to the floor. Edgar stood up and went over to him, licking his hair and mooing softly as he struggled to get the bag open, taking out one of the potions and downing in without stopping to breathe.

It burned his throat going down, the blaze powder not fully dissolved, and he coughed once he was done with it. But he was already feeling better, a comforting warmth spreading through his body and chasing away his earlier exhaustion. He placed the bottle down and took another one, looking at it before opening the bottle to drink. He could see bits of blaze powder in the red liquid, and it gave off a similar glow to the enchanted weapons and armor he had seen in castle. He drank the second bottle slower than the first and finished the third soon after. He placed the bottles into a chest and sat down on the bed, taking a moment before to relax before laying down and going to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Tumblr blog for this is http://ryanthedragonminecraftau.tumblr.com
> 
> Comments are always appreciated and I hope you enjoy the read.


	3. First Day

The next morning Ryan woke up to a rather loud moo and the sound of something creaking. He opened his eyes and saw Edgar hovering over him, licking his hair.  
  
"Edgar?" He asked, blinking and rubbing at his eyes. "What do you wa-" before he could finish his question the bed creaked and collapsed under the weight of the cow who was trying to climb onto it. "...want? Edgar was that necessary?" Ryan sat up, looking at the cow. "We got this house last night and you've already broken the bed." The cow mooed in his face, her tail swishing back and forth in a rather annoyed manner before she went over to the door and rammed it. Ryan got up and opened the door for her, shaking his head.  
  
"Alright calm down," he muttered, watching as she left the building to graze in a nearby patch of clover. "Guess I'll need to get you some wheat today." Turning away from the cow he walked over to the chests, opening them to see if there was anything inside. He found a few tunics and trousers inside and took them out, laying them on the collapsed bed to look over.  
  
They were all rather plain, just simple white tunics and brown trousers. But he supposed for his job they would do. He stripped off the clothes he had stolen from the farmer, a tunic and kilt which he had grown rather found of, and got changed. The clothes didn't fit him quite right, the trousers were too short and the shirt too tight, but he could get that fixed later. For now he just didn't want to be late for his new job. Stepping outside, he called Edgar over,  petting her nose before leading her down the path to the castle.

The walk went faster now that his body wasn't threatening to tear itself apart. After only ten minutes, including the time he had stopped to pick an apple from a tree, he reached the castle. Leading Edgar over to the cow pen, he herded her inside, offering her the core of his apple as a treat, and headed towards the stables.  
  
"Hey Kerry," he said as he passed the stable boy. "What do you need me to do?"  
  
"Hey Ryan," Kerry replied. "I just finished feeding the cows and sheep, do you think you can get the pigs, rabbits, and horses? The horses need to be fed and their stables need to be cleaned out. I'll do the chickens and maybe afterwards I can show you how to milk a cow." Ryan nodded.  
  
"I think I can manage that," he said. "Um...what do those eat?" Kerry motioned for Ryan to follow him, leading Ryan to the chests where the food was stored.  
  
"Pigs like carrots," he said. "Rabbits like carrots as well as the flowers in their pen. The horses will take hay."  
  
"Thanks, Kerry," Ryan said, gathering up a basket of carrots before heading out to the pig and rabbit pens. He went to the rabbits first, filling their feeder with carrots before taking the rest to the pigs. He opened the door to the pig pen, backing up slightly as the pigs crowded around him. "Easy..." he said, taking a carrot out and offering it to the nearest pig. "There's enough for all of you." He made his way over to the trough, dumping the carrots in and stepping back to let the pigs eat. He noticed a baby struggling to reach and went over, lifting the small animal up holding it over the trough until it was full. It oinked at him, following him to the gate of the pen and watched him as he opened it. Ryan chuckled, reaching through the gate to pet it's chin.  
  
"You shall be Prince Oinkens The First," he said before heading back to the stables to tend to the horses. Kerry still wasn't back from feeding the chickens so Ryan grabbed a broom and a bucket of water before going over to Patches' pen. The horse snorted, kicking her foot.  
  
"Easy girl," Ryan said, holding a hand out. "It's just me, remember? Jack and Geoff are having me work here." He went over and grabbed some hay, offering it to her. "See? I'm a friend. Nothing to worry about here." Patches ate the offered treat and allowed Ryan to open the pen, stepping back and watching him him as he cleaned and replaced the straw. He filled her water trough and threw in a bale of hay before moving on to the other horses, stopping in front of a pen containing a large white stallion when the sign caught his eye.  
  
"H-1-D-4-L-6-0?" He read out loud, not understanding the confusing mix of numbers and letters.  
  
"Yeah," a voice said from behind him. "Hidalgo." Ryan turned and found himself looking at Prince Michael.  
  
"It's certainly...unique," he said. "Do you need anything, My Prince?"  
  
"Cut the prince shit, Ryan," Michael said, opening Hidalgo's pen and leading the horse out. "It's Michael." He left Hidalgo standing in the center of the room as he went to get the horse's saddle. "I'm going to take Hidalgo out hunting for a while. Is there anything he needs?"  
  
"I haven't gotten to feed him yet," Ryan said. "So you may want to take some hay with you. I'll have his pen cleaned out by the time you come back, so he'll have clean water then." Michael finished saddling Hidalgo up and climbed up onto the horse.  
  
"Give him a few apples, too," Michael said. "He likes a treat after we finish." Ryan nodded.  
  
"Yes My Pr...sure thing, Michael." Michael smiled before driving his heels into the horses side, riding off into the nearby forest. Ryan watched him go for a moment before returning to work.

Not long after Michael left Kerry had come back, covered in multiple peck marks. Ryan raised an eyebrow, smirking a little.  
  
"Issues with the chickens?" He asked as Kerry set down his bucket.  
  
"They were a little aggressive," Kerry admitted. "Are you done with the horses?" He asked. Ryan added some apples to Hidalgo's pen before nodding.  
  
"I am now," he said. "And I think you said something earlier about milking the cows?"  
  
"I did," Kerry said. "Grab one of those buckets and follow me." Ryan grabbed a clean bucket and followed Kerry as the young man continued to talk. "One of our cows had a calf last week," he explained. "She's making more milk than it can drink, so we're going to take some of the extra to use in the kitchen." Kerry opened the door to the barn and led Ryan to a stall where a white cow stood with her calf, who was just as white as its mother and was greedily suckling at her teat. Kerry washed his hands in a nearby basin of water and Ryan followed his lead. "Can I see the bucket?" He asked, and Ryan gave it to him. He opened the door to the stall and stepped in, standing back and waiting for the calf to finish. Ryan followed him in and the calf went to him in an instant, looking up at him with big brown eyes.  
  
"Hey little guy," he said, petting the calf. "Did you leave any for us?" Kerry laughed and approached the mother, feeding her some wheat before placing the bucket under her and sitting down on a stool.  
  
"Come watch, Ryan," he said, and the Dragon-Man went over. He watched as Kerry carefully took two of the nipples and gently worked the milk into the bucket. "Think you can do that?" Ryan nodded, taking Kerry's place on the stool and following his lead, giving the cow a gentle pat on the side when she shifted nervously.  
  
"Don't worry," he told the cow. "Your baby will have enough." The cow let out a low moo, turning to look at him. He rubbed her nose and went back to milking her, stopping when the bucket was nearly full. "This good Kerry?" He asked, showing the young man the bucket.  
  
"Looks good to me," Kerry said. "I'll bring it down to the kitchen. Would you mind fixing the jousting ring? The ground is uneven thanks to a creeper last night and I want to get it fixed for the horses. Once you're done you can take a lunch break."  
  
"Anything I need?" Ryan asked. "Or will the materials be there?"  
  
"There should be stuff left from the creeper," Kerry said. "If you need anything more then I think Jack may have some stone in the smithing room." Ryan nodded and headed towards the jousting ring.

\---------  
  
The hole wasn't too bad. About three feet deep and twelve feet across. Ryan circled it a few times, trying to think about how to approach it. He jumped into the hole and even out the sides before seeing what materials he had. There was a decent amount of dirt left over from when the creeper blew, but not enough to fill the hole completely. Leaving the hole Ryan looked around, trying to see what he could use. He noticed a large boulder and went over to it, deciding that he could fill the bottom of the hole with rocks and use what dirt there was to level out the top. Placing his shovel down, Ryan slammed his fist into the rock, smiling as gave way and crumbled. There was a low whistle from behind him and he turned, seeing Geoff sitting on the fence in his new silver and emerald crown.  
  
"Damn," he said. "Guess those potions are working for you, huh?" Ryan shrugged and gave a low bow, hoping that the king would be satisfied and not force Jack to make another crown.  
  
"Guess so," he said, picking the rocks up and continuing on with his work. He could feel Geoff watching him and it was making him anxious, but he didn't let it show until the king spoke again.  
  
"What are you doing?" he asked, making Ryan freeze. The dragon-man swallowed, straightening up and facing Geoff.  
  
"Kerry asked me to fix this," he said, worried that he had done something wrong already. "Should I not be?" Geoff smoothed his mustache, thinking.  
  
"No this does need to be fixed," he said. "But I asked Kerry to do it, so why did he pass it off on you?" Ryan relaxed, glad Geoff's annoyance seemed to be elsewhere.  
  
"I needed something to do," he said. "And Kerry was bringing the milk to the kitchen. Besides, have you seen Kerry? He's so small he probably would have gotten stuck in the hole." Geoff laughed, the same half manic sound Ryan new from before.  
  
"Yeah probably," Geoff said. "I'm still going to chew him out, though. You said the kitchen? I'll see if he's there." The king hopped off the fence and went over to look at the hole. "Make sure it's even. I don't want Mystery to twist her ankle." Ryan gave another small bow.  
  
"Yes, My King," he said, continuing to work as Geoff left to find Kerry.  
  
\--------

Once Ryan finished with the hole he went down into the kitchen, looking for something to eat. The elderly chef gave him a loaf of bread and some cheese for lunch, which he politely took and left to go eat out in the courtyard. But along the way he was distracted by the sound of metal on metal, and followed until he found Jack training with Gavin and Ray. His interests piqued, Ryan sat on a nearby bench, watching them train.  
  
The older knight was facing both of the princes at once, all of them wielding an iron sword and wearing basic leather armor. Gavin seemed rather uneven with his sword, attacking in no real pattern and with little strength behind it. Ray was better at attacking, but seemed to falter when it came to defending himself.  Jack moved like someone who had seen many battles, the sword an extension of his arm and his footing firm. Gavin's wild attacks seemed to throw him slightly, but he was quick to recover and strike back, knocking the lithe prince onto his ass with the handle of his sword before focusing all his attention on disarming Ray. Gavin scrambled to his feet and let out an odd cry, lunging at Jack. Jack heard the noise and dodged, causing Gavin to crash directly into Ray. Both princes fell to the ground in a heap while Jack took their swords, laughing.  
  
"Gavin you clumsy asshole," he said, helping the princes up. "You make so much noise." Gavin ruffled a bit, looking annoyed at the accusation.  
  
"Well maybe if you didn't give me such a bloody heavy sword I would be better," he said. "And this isn't fair anyway since My Boi Michael isn't here."  
  
"Yeah where is Michael?" Ray asked. "Isn't he the one who's supposed to be kicking our asses?" Ryan cleared his throat, swallowing his mouthful of bread before speaking.  
  
"He went hunting," he said. "Guess he isn't back yet, huh?"  Jack sighed and drove his sword into the ground before removing his helmet.  
  
"He knew we were going to train today," he said. "He hunted yesterday, why is he going again today."  
  
"Maybe he's out with Lindsay?" Gavin offered. Ryan took another bite of bread and thought back to the night before, back to how Michael's rage seemed to evaporate around Lindsay.  
  
"Are they close?" He asked, earning a scoff from everyone.  
  
"Let's just say if Michael ever takes the throne Achievement Kingdom will have a hell of a queen," Ray said, making a lewd movement with his arms and hip. Ryan laughed.  
  
"Guess that answers that," Ryan said. Gavin stripped off his armor and tossed it aside before attempting to fix his messy hair.  
  
"Bloody hot in that," he complained. "I don't know why I need this anyway. I'm the best shot with a bow can't I just use that?" Jack leaned on his sword.  
  
"You almost put an arrow in Ryan's skull yesterday," he reminded the lad. "And a bow can't help you at close range."  
  
"Then give me a dagger!" Gavin said. "I can use one of those!" Ray started to strip off his armor as well.  
  
"That all makes sense for Gavin, since he couldn't defend himself with a butcher knife," he started, "but what about me? No one can get close enough to hurt me. Now with this." He snapped his fingers and a glowing dome appeared around him, blocking anyone from touching him.  
  
"Ray Geoff has been over this," Jack said, becoming frustrated. "All of you, you, Gavin, and even Michael, need to know how to defend yourselves in a fight. You can't assume that tricks will work."  
  
"That coming from half the reason the castle is rigged to blow up," Ray mocked. Jack shrugged, looking somewhat defeated.  
  
"I never said that was a good idea," he said. "And Geoff _**can**_ defend himself with a sword if he has to." He looked towards Ryan, who had just finished his lunch and was getting ready to leave. "What about you? Want to try your hand at a sword?" Ryan froze, looking at the long blade in Jack's hand.  
  
"I think I'll pass for now," Ryan said, smiling slightly. "I should head back to work. Maybe tomorrow, if Kerry doesn't have too much work for me."

"Alright," Jack said. "You should probably train before you go to The Nether, though. Even if you're with someone it's better if you can defend yourself." Ryan froze.  
  
"With someone?" He asked. He hadn't considered that they wouldn't let him go to The Nether alone. If he had to go with someone else, and most likely stay with them, then he wouldn't be able to turn into a dragon to fight the creatures there. Not without revealing what he was.  
  
"Of course," Jack said. "The Nether is dangerous. We go in pairs at least, usually more though."  
  
"Alright," Ryan said. "I think I will train with you tomorrow then. I did promise to get my own materials, after all." A small surge of panic shot through him. They had let him get away with not gathering his own materials last night, but would they be willing cover for him tonight? Or however long it took before they let him into The Nether. He swallowed, a cold lump settling in his stomach. "Do you train every day?" He asked. Maybe if he watched them practice he'd be prepared in case the worst happened. In case he had to fight them.  
  
"Not every day," Jack said. "But if you want I can come get you any time we do train. I doubt Kerry would mind."  
  
"Sounds great," Ryan said. He hoped by the first New Moon, only two weeks away, he'd be able to fight well enough to go to The Nether. No reason to force everyone to carry him for too long. "I should head back to the stables, though. May need to feed Hidalgo if Michael ever comes back from hunting." Jack nodded.  
  
"I'll come get you tomorrow," Jack said.  
  
"Thanks Jack," Ryan said before leaving.  
  
\---------------

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Ryan cleaned the stables a second time, replacing some hay and water that looked dirty, and helped with Hidalgo once Michael returned from his hunt, managing to avoid getting kicked by the difficult horse when it came time to groom him. By dinner he was worn out, but it was not like the crippling exhaustion he had felt the night before. This was manageable and more suited to a day spent working in the stables. Which meant the potions were working as he had planned.  
  
After dinner he retrieved Edgar from the cow pen and led her back to their house. When he opened the door he noticed three potions beside his bed. Closing the door behind himself, he approached them and picked one up, looking it over closely.  
  
 _I guess Caleb dropped them off,_ he thought to himself, glad that they weren't going to hold him to his promise so soon. _I'll need to thank him later._ He drank the potions, feeling the not unpleasant burn go down his throat. He put the bottles away and walked over to his torch, the feel of the potions giving him an idea.  
  
As a dragon he was immune to all heat. Fire, lava, even the sting of lightning couldn't harm him. It was an ability of his kind. One he wondered if it had carried over.  
  
Taking the torch in one hand, he held his other one over it, slowly lowering it down so that his palm was bathed in flames. At first it was just a pleasant warmth, not unlike the heat of a summer day. But as the minutes ticked by it began to sting, until finally he had to draw his hand away with a pained wince. He looked at the flesh and saw that it was red and starting to blister. So his new body could resist heat but he wasn't immune. That was good to know. He placed the torch back on the wall and changed his clothes, finding something more suited for sleeping before retiring for the night, Edgar laying next to him in his collapsed bed.


	4. Training

The next morning was uneventful. Kerry had him repeat the previous day's jobs, though this time he allowed Ryan to milk the cow on his own. Once again Michael took Hidalgo out, despite Ryan warning him that Jack may be cross about the day before.  
  
"I'll be back in time to train," Michael had said, saddling up and mounting Hidalgo. "I know where to find my prey today, and it's not getting away." The grin he sported at these words had unnerved Ryan, and he didn't try to stop the lad any further. Instead he continued on with his work, feeding the horses that were in the stables and getting things ready for the horses who were out. Outside of Michael the most eventful part of his morning was when he had to bring all the horses out to pasture. Watching almost an entire stable's worth of horses hadn't been an easy job, especially since he suspected some could smell what he really was, but he managed to keep an eye on them all and get them back into the stables without any issues. Once the horses were all back in their pens and given clean water it was around noon.  
  
"I'm going to break for lunch, Kerry," Ryan told the younger man. "Then I think I'll train with Jack for a bit. If you need me come get me." Kerry waved his hand at him, cleaning one of the pens.  
  
"No problem, Ryan," he said. "When you're done feed the chickens one last time and you should be good for the day." Ryan nodded and left, heading for the kitchen.  
  
\---------  
  
Ryan grabbed an apple for lunch and ate it on the way to the training grounds, anxious. He knew he had to learn to fight in this body if he was going to survive The Nether, but the idea of men with swords was a bad one. Even if they didn't know the truth, it made Ryan nervous. He had never heard of his kind and swords ending well.  
  
When he arrived at the training grounds Gavin and Ray were practicing, rather poorly in Ryan's mind, their sword fighting and Jack was nowhere to be seen. The lads stopped when they saw Ryan, each taking off their helmets and tossing them aside.  
  
"Hey Ryan," Ray said, sitting down and plucking a rose that seemed to have sprung up from nowhere. "If you're looking for Jack he went to go find Michael. He'll be back soon though."  
  
"Michael went hunting again," Ryan said. Ray paused, thinking what Ryan had said over.  
  
"Then he'll be back even sooner," Ray decided. "He'll stop looking once he notices Hidalgo is gone." Gavin slumped on the ground.  
  
"My Boi keeps going hunting without me," he complained. Ray tossed the rose to him.  
  
"Hey tomorrow we can go hunting," he said, smiling at Gavin. "X-Ray and Vav right?" Gavin grinned.  
  
"Right!" He turned to Ryan. "You want to go hunting too, Ryan? I'm sure Kerry wouldn't mind." Ryan paused, looking down at his hands. He knew how to hunt with talons and fire, but his hands looked too weak to take anything down.  
  
"I don't know how to hunt," he said. Gavin was on his feet in a second.  
  
"I can show you," he said, grinning. He left his sword abandoned on the ground and grabbed his bow and quiver. He took out an arrow, drew back the bowstring, and aimed for a tree. "It's real easy. You just get an arrow, aim, and MARK NUTT!" He cried, releasing the arrow and hitting the tree dead in the center of a cut off branch. Ryan just looked at him.  
  
"Mark Nutt?" He asked. Gavin smiled.  
  
"Mark Nutt was a great heroic archer," Gavin said. "He went to The Nether and killed the Pigman King. Then he went to The End and with one arrow shot the dragon's head off."  
  
"That doesn't seem physically possible," Ryan said, more confused than anything else.  
  
"They're stories Geoff used to tell us when we were younger," Ray chimed in. "Looking back on them, he probably just made them all up." Gavin huffed.  
  
"I don't care if they're made up or not," he said. "I like the stories and I want to be the best archer in all the land."  
  
"You could be," Jack said, walking down the path alone, with Michael nowhere in sight, "if you paid more attention and were more careful." Gavin wilted, though the smile stayed on his face.  
  
"Aw c'mon, Jack," he said. "I'm not that bad. Watch!" He took aim again, let out his odd cry of "MARK NUTT!" and let the arrow fly, hitting the cut branch right next to where his earlier arrow had struck. "See? I'd say I'm pretty top. What do you think Ryan?" Ryan walked over to the branch, pretending to examine it intensely.  
  
"Not bad..." he said. "Though admittedly," he added, smirking, "I could be biased. These weren't aimed at my head." Gavin let out an indignant squawk.  
  
"Ryan!" He cried, sounding hurt. "That was an accident!" Ryan raised his hands and shot the prince a smile.  
  
"I'm just saying it's nice when you aim at other things." He lowered his hands but the smile stayed on his face. Nothing he had ever heard about princes would have made him think they'd be this agreeable. Gavin seemed pleasantly scatterbrained and Ray seemed perfectly relaxed with everything that was going on around him. They certainly didn't seem to treat him like just someone who fed their horses. It was a pleasant surprise.

Gavin walked over and shoved the bow and quiver into his hands. "You try," he said, walking back and showing Ryan where to stand. Ryan walked over to the designated spot and readied the bow, taking an arrow from the quiver, drawing back on the string, and breaking the string with a loud twang.  
  
"Um..." he looked at the broken bow in his hands, speechless for a moment. "Oops?"

"What happened?" Gavin asked, taking back his now ruined bow. "You bloody snapped the string like it was a thread!"  
  
"Sorry," Ryan said, shrinking a bit. "Guess I don't know my own strength." Jack took the broken bow from Gavin and handed a new one to Ryan.  
  
"Try it again," he said. "Don't pull back on the string so hard this time." Ryan took the bow, testing the strength of the string before even starting.  
  
"Right," he said, taking aim at the target. He pulled back on the string, gentler this time, and let the arrow go. It pierced the trunk below the limb and a little too right.  
  
"Again," Jack said. "Go until you run out of arrows." Ryan adjusted his aim and let the arrow go, but this time it went too high. He repeated this until there was about forty arrows in the trunk of the tree, all in different locations. The last ten were clustered on the cut limb, though none had managed to hit the center the way Gavin's arrows had. Setting down the bow, Ryan walked over to retrieve them.  
  
"How was that?" He asked, placing them back into the quiver.  
  
"Have you ever used a bow before now?" Jack asked. Ryan shook his head. "Then it wasn't bad." Ryan laughed, finishing with the arrows and walking back over to Jack.  
  
"But if I had used a bow before?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Then you sucked," Jack said with a laugh. Ryan laughed again and tossed the quiver aside.  
  
"What next?" He asked.  
  
"You should try swords," Jack said. "They can be useful against the pigmen. There are some over there," he motioned to a rack of swords, all varied in length and form, "pick one you like and we can start." Ryan walked over to the swords, examining each one. Some were rather short while others had only a single bladed edge. Passing over these, Ryan stopped in front of an iron sword, double bladed and about as long as a child was tall.  
  
"How about this one?" He asked. Jack walked over and looked at the sword.  
  
"A Claymore?" He asked. "I can train you with those. We'll start with two-hande..." before he could finish the sentence Ryan had picked up the sword, holding it in one hand effortlessly. Jack froze, and Ray and Gavin turned and stared. Ryan looked around at all of them, still holding the sword.  
  
"What?" He asked.  
  
"Claymores are heavy, two-handed longswords," Jack explained.  
  
"Yeah and you're holding that one like it's a kitchen knife," Ray finished. Ryan looked down at the sword. It certainly didn't feel heavy in his hands. He tried grasping it with both hands, and admittedly the grip did seem made for that, but he didn't feel it helped him hold the blade.  
  
"Feels fine to me," Ryan said, shrugging.  
  
"If you're not having issues then I guess we can practice with it," Jack said. "Gavin, grab a sword. You're up!" Gavin squawked, looking from Jack to Ryan and back again.  
  
"Why?" He asked, sounding pitiful. He eyed the sword in Ryan's hand and shrunk back.  
  
"Because I want to start Ryan off slow," Jack said, grabbing a sword for Gavin to use. "And no offense, but you're the weakest fighter here."

"I'll go easy on you, My Prince," Ryan said, hoping he sounded more reassuring than mocking, though there was some mischief in his voice. He hadn't had the chance to play at battle in decades, and it was a welcome opportunity. Gavin whined, going over and picking up a short, one handed sword. Ryan saw the way he held the blade and for a moment tried to picture Gavin wielding the Claymore, laughing at the absurd image.  
  
"What?" Gavin asked.  
  
"Sorry," Ryan said, calming down. "I just realized you probably weigh as much as my sword does." Gavin ruffled as Ray and Jack laughed as well. Gavin shot his adopted brother a look, frowning.  
  
"You probably would too," he said.  
  
"Probably," Ray said. "Still funny though." Ryan chuckled as he put on some sparse armor and got into position, waiting for Gavin. The prince still seemed hesitant, but he got into position as well, holding his sword with an unsteady hand.  
  
"On the count of three," Jack said. "Three...two...on..." Jack was cut off by a green orb appearing in their midst, striking the ground and exploding into a cloud of purple sparks before Michael appeared where the orb had hit the ground.  
  
"Hey assholes," the prince asked as though he hadn't just appeared. "Fighting without me?"  
  
"Michael where have you been all day?" Jack asked. Michael shrugged, a wicked grin coming to his face.  
  
"Hunting Endermen," he said. "Killed fifty of them and brought back enough pearls for everyone. Well...everyone I care about at least." Jack groaned, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Just get off the field," he said. "Geoff can talk to you about that later. Gavin and Ryan need to fight first."  
  
"Sweet," Michael said, joining Ray to watch. "Kick his ass, Boi!" Gavin smiled, gaining a bit more confidence.  
  
"Alright again," Jack said. "On the count of three. Three...tw...ah fuck it just go." Gavin let out a cry and tossed his sword before realizing his mistake and backing up, turning to run. Ryan was still for a moment before grinning, grabbing Gavin's sword, and giving chase.  
  
"Is it started?!" Gavin cried, trying to keep away from the pursuing stable hand. "Is it real?!" He let out a horrified squawk as Ryan closed the gap between them. From the side Ray, Jack, and Michael were all doubled over laughing.  
  
"Is it started? Is it real?" Michael parroted between laughs, holding his stomach. "Gavin you suck!"  
  
"Come back here, boy," Ryan said, swiping at Gavin's back and earning another squawk from the prince as the blade found its mark, cutting his armor. Ryan tossed the swords aside and tackled the lad, pinning Gavin to the ground even as he flailed to get free. "Gotcha!"

Jack wiped at his eyes, his laughter subsiding a bit before starting up again. Ryan got up off of Gavin and offered the prince his hand, pulling him up to his feet. "Alright," Jack said, finally calm. "Try again." Ryan picked up the swords and handed Gavin his before returning to the training field. They started again, only this time Gavin managed to keep a hold of his sword. Every so often Jack would stop them so that he could correct something about Ryan's stance.  
  
"You're too stiff," Jack said. "And you keep trying to stab with your sword, almost like you're trying to claw something. Keep your motions fluid and use the edge of the blade, not the tip." Ryan nodded, adjusting the way he held the blade.  
  
"It's a damned sword, Ryan!" Michael yelled from the sidelines. "It's not a dagger!" Michael got up and walked over. "Let me spar with him, Jack," the lad said, sword already drawn. "He won't learn anything fighting Gavin."  
  
"I want him to learn the stances," Jack said. "And he won't learn anything if you cut him to ribbons, either. I think you've shed enough blood today with your Ender hunt, now let Ryan train." Michael grumbled and went back to where he was sitting, grumbling some more.

Ryan and Gavin resumed, with Ryan trying to take what Jack had said to heart. But Gavin was proving a difficult partner, one who moved about erratically and who could be disarmed easily. Ryan wondered if fighting Michael wouldn't have proven a better experience, but he didn't question Jack. After a few rounds Jack had Ray and Gavin switch, dismissing Gavin and Michael and telling them to get ready for dinner. Ray proved to be a better opponent than Gavin, still not overly strong but better able to match movements. Ray actually had a technique while Gavin seemed to flail about like a crazed animal. They sparred until Jack told them to stop, congratulating Ryan on his abilities and telling them both to get ready for dinner.  
  
"Not bad, Ryan," Ray said, nudging the larger man. "Good luck though when Jack finally decides to put you against Michael. Hope you aren't too attached to all your body parts."  
  
"Jack showed me his scars," Ryan said, looking over at Ray and noticing a pale scar running across the bridge of his nose, cutting over an eye. "Is that?" Ryan motioned towards his face.  
  
"Yup," Ray said. "I was lucky, though. We were using daggers that day, not swords. Swords leave nasty scars."  
  
"I can imagine," Ryan said. "He doesn't seem too bad otherwise, though."  
  
"Michael?" Ray asked. "Nah he's not bad. He's like an angry plush toy. A very angry plush toy." Ryan laughed.  
  
"I guess I can see that," he said, following Ray up the stairs to the washroom.

\--------------  
  
At dinner Michael had a captive audience for the tale of how he had battled and killed fifty Endermen in the woods. He stood on top of his table, sword in hand, as he acted out what had occurred.  
  
"So there I was, hunting in the forest," he said. "I knew there were Endermen about from my hunt yesterday. I could hear them flitting around. So today, I decided to do something about it. So I saddled up Hidalgo, got my best sword, and headed out." He acted out crouching through the woods, looking behind every corner. "Now, the trick about Endermen is to hit them hard and fast, otherwise they'll port away and attack from behind. And don't let them surround you. Unless you're me, of course. The first three I found were on their own, the next five were in a group. After that they were all in pairs. The first three I rushed in, sword drawn." He leaped into the air, and brought the sword down into the table. "I struck them each down with a single blow. For the group of five I had to lure them away. The pairs I took them both on at once." Ryan watched as Michael recanted his tale, how he described the adrenaline of the hunt and the excitement of hunting something that can disappear in seconds. Geoff was leaning forward in his seat, captivated.  
  
"You really got fifty?" He asked, grinning. "Great job, Buddy!" Jack, however, seemed rather grim about the whole thing.  
  
"Geoff this isn't a good thing," he said. "For one thing the heir shouldn't be running through the forest like an assassin." Geoff scoffed at that, waving a disinterested hand. "And another thing, why were fifty Endermen in the woods by the castle. And in groups." That gave Geoff, and everyone else in the room, pause. Ryan watched as everyone stopped cheering Michael in favor of talking among themselves, and even Michael became grim, sitting back down and continuing with his meal, occasionally stopping to talk to Ray and Gavin. Ryan turned away from the room and back to his table mates.  
  
"What's happening with the Endermen?" He asked those around him.  
  
"We don't know," Lindsay said. "They've always been bad, but for the past three months they've been getting worse. They used to just attack the occasional hunter, someone who had been unlucky enough to look at them. But then they started to attack farms and villages. Attacking people in their homes. Then they started attacking knights."  
  
"And no one knows why?" Ryan asked. "Endermen aren't supposed to be this aggressive. Or this organized."  
  
"We know," Matt said. "But something is going on with them and it looks like there's going to be an all out war."  
  
"And now they're close to the castle," Jeremy pointed out. "Sounds like war to me. Maybe they have a king no one knows about. One that's ordering them to attack us."  
  
"Maybe their king is The Ender Dragon," Lindsay offered. "I mean, what else is there in The End that could rule it? And I don't see a kingdom forming with that thing flying around."  
  
"Aren't there a lot of those, though?" Jeremy asked. "And we have dragons in The Overworld. We form kingdoms." Ryan shook his head.  
  
"There's a difference between Ender Dragons and The Ender Dragon," he said, remembering back to his lessons beneath the wings of an ancient Serpent. "Ender Dragons are just like any other dragon. The Ender Dragon is whichever one manages to rule. It lives on an island within The End and its power is fueled by crystals that grow there."  
  
"How do you know?" Matt asked. "Ever been to The End?" Ryan froze, his stomach tying itself in knots.  
  
"Found a book once," he lied, not looking Matt in the eye. "Thought it was interesting. It didn't say anything about The Ender Dragon ruling Endermen, though." He hoped that shifting the subject back to the threat would take the attention off of him, and it worked.  
  
"Then it has to be something else," Matt said. "But what?"  
  
The question was interrupted by the sound of an Ender Pearl breaking on the ceiling and Gavin appearing where it had shattered, only for the lad to fall and crash into the table. Geoff stopped his discussion with Jack and broke down into hysterical laughter, as did everyone else once it was clear Gavin was unharmed.  
  
"You...stupid...fuck," Michael gasped out. "You're not getting another one." Gavin picked himself up and brushed himself off, grabbing a pearl from Ray's hand to look at it. "Hey!" Michael said. "What did I just say?"  
  
"What if you made a sword out of these?" Gavin asked. "Would you fight something and disappear? Or would you stab something and it would disappear?"  
  
"Maybe it would put you inside of what you were fighting," Ray offered. "That would suck."

"You can't make a sword out of these, idiot," Michael said, grabbing the one Gavin was holding. "You teleport the moment you break them." They argued a bit before Geoff stood up, clearing his throat.  
  
"I want every knight and knight in training to wrap it up," he said. "We're going to search the woods for more Endermen. Everyone else can do what they want I don't give a fuck." Geoff left the room and most of Ryan's table got up to follow their king out. Jack walked over to Ryan and handed him a small leather bag.  
  
"Your payment for today and yesterday," Jack said. Ryan took the bag and looked inside, counting twenty iron coins and ten copper coins.  
  
"Thanks, Jack," Ryan said, closing the bag. Jack gave him a nod and left the room, following his king and the knights. Ryan finished his meal and got up, heading to the cow pen to grab Edgar before returning to his home. There was still some light out, so he decided to leave Edgar in his house while he went into the village to grab supplies.

\--------  
  
The sun was setting over the horizon by the time he reached the village, and he would be lying if he said it didn't make him anxious. As a dragon he could fight off any zombie or skeleton that appeared in the darkness, but as a human, and unarmed, he was much less sure of his abilities. But he wanted to get supplies for his house and he didn't know when else he would be able to. He needed more clothes and maybe something for a small garden, so that he could grow food for Edgar. Something to fix his bed would be nice, too.  
  
He stopped by the seed store first, looking around. He picked up some grain and seed potatoes, as well as some carrots, before going up to the clerk.  
  
"How much for these?" He asked, looking through his bag.  
  
"One stone coin," the clerk said. Ryan frowned, realizing he didn't know how the currency worked.  
  
"Um..." he looked up at the clerk, who in Ryan's mind seemed to look an awful lot like the king, took out an iron coin. "How's this?" He asked. "I'm new so I don't really know how any of this works. Sorry."  
  
"It's alright, buddy," the clerk said, taking the coin. "It goes in groups of ten, starting with wood and going up to gold. Ten wood in a stone, ten stone in an iron, and so on." He placed the iron coin in a bag and handed Ryan nine stone coins back. "Want a gold hoe? I have a special sale on it. Only five stone coins." Ryan thought for a moment and shrugged.  
  
"I guess," he said, handing the strange man five stone coins and taking his hoe. The man smelt heavily of barley and ink, and Ryan squinted. "Geoff?" He asked, but the man only put a finger to his lips and let out a quiet 'shhh.' Ryan shrugged and left the store, thoroughly confused. Apparently the king ran a store in his spare time.  
  
He continued to a store that was selling clothes, entering it and browsing around. He figured he needed something he could work in as well as clothes that would be good for fighting. He selected a few pairs of brown trousers and tried them on before settling on three he thought would be suited for working with the horses. He grabbed a few extra tunics as well before beginning his search for something to wear while hunting and training.  
  
He started to look at the kilts, having developed an odd fondness for the article of clothing after he spent some time wearing the one he stole from that farmer. Trousers felt restrictive, while kilts seemed to give him enough room for a tail if humans had one. He liked how the kilt moved around him and thought a few may work for combat clothing. After selecting five kilts he went up and paid for them, the whole set costing six stone coins. He thanked the clerk, and admittedly was a bit disappointed that this was someone he didn't recognize, and left.  
  
He finished up his trip by buying some wood and a stone ax, costing an iron coin. He took his supplies and headed back home, careful not to take too long. The sun had gone down and the moon was high in the sky. He could hear creatures creep around him, hear the moans of zombies and the hiss of spiders. He went into his house quickly and packed up the supplies before turning towards the bed, where Edgar was currently sleeping.

"You need to move, Edgar," he said, nudging the cow. "I need to fix this." Edgar gave a low moo and licked his hair, but she moved none the less. Ryan began to repair the bed, working on building the legs back up. Once he was finished the bed seemed suited for sleeping once more, so he drank the potions Caleb had once again left for him and got changed before laying down to sleep.


	5. Hunts, Hoards, and Holes

The next day Ryan left Edgar behind, leaving her with some cut grass to eat, and headed for the castle. He had hoped that he would get a chance to train again with Jack that day, so he packed up one of his kilts before leaving. He tossed the bag into the corner of the stable and set to work, gathering up the feed when he didn’t see Kerry around and going to each of the animals, feeding them.

"Hello, Prince Oinkens The First," he said, smiling at the small piglet that came up to the gate. "How are you feeling today?" The tiny creature squealed and chewed at the bag of carrots. Ryan laughed and pulled one out, handing it to the pig. "Not too many," he said. "You’re going to get fat." He carried on with his job, stopping by the sheep’s pen to see how they were doing. Most of the sheep were white, though a few oddly colored ones were scattered about here and there, including one whose wool changed color, a ram he had been told was named Jeb. Grabbing a pair of nearby shears Ryan opened the door to the pen and walked inside, heading to a sheep with particularly long wool. The sheep gave an uneasy baa and backed away from him.

"It’s alright, girl," he said, pulling some wheat out of his bag and offering it to her. She approached slowly and took the treat. While she was distracted chewing her meal Ryan gently pinned her down, cutting away the excess wool. "There you go," Ryan said, letting the sheep back up as he took the wool. "Much better." He gave them some extra wheat before returning back to the stables.

"Hey Kerry," he said, noticing that Kerry had finally arrived. "I took care of the livestock." He placed the wool in one of the chests and began to feed the horses.

"Thanks Ryan," Kerry said. "There’s not too much work to do today if you want to take more time to practice with Jack." Ryan shrugged, getting a brush out so that he could brush Grisham. The horse turned and began to contentedly chew on his shirt.

"I’m in no rush," Ryan said, though that wasn’t completely true. He was looking forward to when he didn’t have to rely solely on Caleb for his potions, and the thought of training did sound rather enjoyable. But he had a job to do in the stables first, so he would.

After he finished with Grisham he moved on to Hidalgo. The horse reared up as he approached, looking ready to kick Ryan, but instead settled back down and allowed himself to be brushed. His coat was looking a bit ragged and patchy and his mane was tattered, causing Ryan to frown.

"I don’t think we should let Michael take Hidalgo hunting for a while," he said. "He looks a bit beaten up." He finished brushing the horse’s coat and threw a blanket over him before giving him clean water and moving onto Patches. She backed away from him and whinnied nervously pawing at the ground.

"I’ll tell Michael that if he shows up," Kerry said. Sure enough right after the words left Kerry’s mouth Michael, Gavin, and Ray walked into the room. Ryan glanced at them before turning his attention back to Patches, just managing to get her calm enough to brush.

"Tell me what, Kerry?" Michael asked, going up to Hidalgo and offering the horse some sugar while Gavin went to fawn over Grisham.

"Ryan doesn’t think you should take Hidalgo out for a few days," Kerry said. Ryan shot him a look and sighed.

"Thanks," he said, turning to Michael. The prince didn’t seem angry, only curious. "Hidalgo needs to rest. He looks worn out from your last two hunts." There was a quiet moment when Michael just looked at him and a small bit of panic filled Ryan. It occurred to him that he was no one in this castle and that he had no right to speak to the prince, the heir in such a way. If Michael wanted to work his horse to death he could, and no one but King Geoff could have any sort of say in the matter.

"Alright," Michael said, and Ryan just looked at him, stunned.

"What?" He asked. Michael shrugged.

"If Hidalgo needs a break we can take Grisham or Dirk Dirk," he said. "No big deal." Ryan relaxed, glad Michael hadn’t resisted.

"We can take Grisham," Gavin said. "He needs some exercise."

"Are you all going hunting?" Ryan asked. Ray nodded.

"First we’re going hunting then we’re going swimming," he said. Gavin grinned, holding up a wine-skin.

"I got the bevs," he said.

"Want to come, Ryan?" Michael asked, opening Grisham’s pen and readying the horse. "You don’t get out of the castle much, do you? And if you’re going to be hunting blazes you should practice on something that can’t shoot back."

"Yeah Ryan!" Gavin said, excited. "You should come too."

"It will be fun," Ray said. "We’ll make a game of it. Whoever gets the best kill wins."

Ryan paused for a moment, thinking the proposition over, before nodding. He hadn’t hunted since his disastrous attack on the farm and was feeling rather restless because of it. A trip out hunting with the princes could be fun. He turned to Kerry, who just nodded.

"Go for it," he said. "I can handle things here." Ryan grinned.

"Alright," he said. "Let me just wash up and get changed first."

"We’ll be waiting outside of the gates," Michael said as he hopped on Grisham and rode him out of the stables, with the other lads in tow.

———

Ryan arrived at the gate not long after the lads had left the stables. He had washed up and had gotten changed into a fresh tunic and his kilt. Outside of the gate The Lads were waiting, Gavin now mounted on Grisham while Michael sat in the grass, sharpening his sword and Ray was playing with Percival.

"Ready to go?" Ryan asked. Michael got to his feet, tossing Ryan a bow and quiver.

"We’ve been waiting on you," he said. "So how do you want to do this. Pair off and see who can bring back something good or everyone goes at it alone?"

"I say alone," Ray said. "I’m not letting you carry Gavin again. Everyone brings back whatever they can based on their personal skill level." Gavin let out a somewhat indignant sound but an elbow from the stomach from Michael quieted him quickly.

"Shut up for a moment, Gav," he said. "I think Ray’s right. I mean, we don’t even know what sort of hunter Ryan is yet. It’s not fair to put him on a team without knowing anything about him." Ryan fiddled with the bow in his hand, unsure.

"I guess I could manage hunting alone," he said. "Is there anything I should know before I get started?" The Lads looked between one another before turning back to him.

"Don’t engage Endermen in combat," Michael said.

"And watch out for Creepers," Gavin added.

"Spiders too, though they usually only attack at night," Ray chimed in, shivering at the thought of spiders.

"There’s some skeletons and zombies too," Michael continued. "If you see them try and lure them into the sun and they’ll burn up." Ryan was starting to regret agreeing to this trip. He never had to worry about monsters before now. Very little was foolish enough to attack a dragon.

"Anything else?" He asked.

"That should be about it," Michael said. "When you’re done hunting meet us by where the river empties into a lake. It’s not that hard to find." Ryan nodded.

"Alright," he said. "See you soon."

"I’m gonna kick your ass," Michael said before rushing into the forest without another word. Ray grinned and rushed in after him, leaving an unusual trail of rose petals in his wake. Gavin paused for a moment, glancing at Ryan.

"Good luck, Ryan," he said before riding Grisham into the forest. Once the princes were out of sight Ryan entered the woods himself, bow at the ready.

————

The forest was far more peaceful than Ryan had expected. It was quiet, and calm, but not in a menacing or foreboding way. There wasn’t any moan from a zombie or the creaking bones of a skeleton. He had seen a spider in the distance once, but it had moved on without giving him any mind, creeping along back into a small dark hole. Some rabbits chewed on the grass while wild fowl pecked at the ground, picking up seeds and bugs where they could find them. It was nice.

After walking for about twenty minutes Ryan stopped to pick an apple from a tree, sitting down beneath its leaves to enjoy his small meal. The wind rustled the leaves around him, creating a pleasant and soothing rhythm while he ate. A chick approached him cautiously and he placed the core down in front of it, smiling as it pecked away at its new-found treat. Ryan then leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes, taking a moment to relax and have some time to himself.

Ryan had nodded off for a bit and was awoken by the sound of a nearby pig. Remembering his challenge with the princes he stood up and drew an arrow from the quiver, stalking towards the sound. Some boar, not too large, were rooting around in the dirt, looking for roots and grubs to eat. Steadying himself on one knee Ryan took aim and drew back on the bowstring, aiming for the largest male. Suddenly the pigs looked up and scattered, running into the brush. Confused, he had been sure he hadn’t made a sound, Ryan lowered the bow, straightening up to follow them. It was then he heard a low hiss from behind him.

Creepers were one of the more dangerous creatures that could be found in the Overworld. While arguably cute with their soft green pelts and near permanent frowns they were aggressive and silent, able to sneak up on most things before blowing them apart. No one quite understood how or why they did that, with theories varying from it was how Creepers reproduced to it being a type of deadly teleportation. Yet at the end of the day all that really mattered was that coming across a Creeper in the woods could be a death sentence to most people. And Ryan was unlucky enough to be within feet of a blast from one. He tried to jump out of the way but was too slow. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of green before it vanished into the explosion that knocked him flat on his back, and made his world go dark.

——

When he finally came too his head was ringing and his vision faded in and out. Trembling he rolled himself over onto his stomach and forced himself up onto his hands and knees, coughing and spitting out blood from ruptured blood vessels in his mouth. He wiped at his nose and found blood there too, as well as some coming from his ears. His ears rang and he couldn’t make out any sound in the forest, just a dull empty rustling. He was dizzy, and when he tried to push himself up he swayed and fell over once more, collapsing on his side in the ditch created by the explosion. He swallowed a bit of blood before spitting out more, running his tongue over his teeth to see if any had been knocked out. Slowly, too slowly for his tastes, he felt comfortable enough to stand, struggling to his feet and climbing up and out of his hole. He staggered forward before collapsing again, spitting out more blood. He crawled around until he found the bow, now broken, and the arrows and quiver, blown apart. Dropping the ruined pieces he used a nearby tree to help him to his feet and snapped off a branch to uses as a crutch.

It took him ten minutes before he felt sure enough on his feet to try and find The Lads. Using his tree branch for support he dragged himself along, trying to find water. His nose, already muted thanks to his human body, was filled with the coppery aroma of blood and his ears were full of a static buzz, deafening him. He kept his eyes on the ground, trying to see any signs of water that could lead him to the river. Finally, after wandering around like a lost calf for almost half an hour, a damp chill drew him towards a gently moving river, which he followed until he happened upon his princes.

Ray was sitting beside the bank with Percival beside a deer carcass, gently plucking the petals off of a rose while Gavin and Michael played in the water, splashing at one another and wrestling. But their fun stopped when they saw Ryan, any cheer in their faces melting to give way to concern.

"Ryan?" Gavin asked. "What happened?"

"You look awful," Ray said, getting up and going over to Ryan, helping him stand.

"Creeper," he groaned, leaning on Ray gratefully. "Blew up right next to me."

"Holy shit," Michael said, getting up and out of the water. "You could have been killed." Ryan nodded in agreement, thankful his ears had finally spotted ringing. "Do you want to head back or…?"

"I just want to lie down," Ryan said. "I’ll be fine after a moment." Michael nodded and him and Ray helped Ryan over to a spot in the shade, helping him down. Ryan settled down and closed his eyes, breathing slowly.

"Let us know when you want you go back," Gavin said. Ryan nodded and relaxed, listening to the splash as Michael jumped back into the water.

"What did everyone get?" He asked.

"I shot that deer," Michael said, and Ryan smiled at the pride in the prince’s voice.

"I didn’t get anything," Gavin confessed. "They all heard me coming and ran."

"I have eighty two roses," Ray said, deadpan. Ryan laughed, something he regretted instantly when his sore muscles protested the sudden movement.

"I have bruises," Ryan said, keeping his tone light despite his injuries. "Maybe some head trauma. I think Michael wins." Michael gave out a loud whoop and jumped in the water.

"Mogar is the winner!" He cried then, judging from a splash and a panicked Gavin noise, tackled the other Lad. Ryan smiled as he listened to the noise, wondering for a moment if he would have played with his nest-mates like that had his egg not hatched out alone. Wondered if young no matter their species played like that. Shifting to get more comfortable beneath his tree Ryan let out a content sigh and nodded off.

————

It was cooler when The Lads woke Ryan up. The warmth of the noonday sun had given way to the chill of the afternoon.

"Come on, Ryan," Ray said. "We should have Caleb look at you when we get back. Make sure nothing is permanently damaged." Ryan pushed himself to his feet with a grunt, in less pain than before but feeling much stiffer.

"I’ll be fine," he said. "Just need a bed."

"You want to ride Grisham back?" Gavin asked from atop the horse. "You can if you want."

"I’m fine," Ryan said, though he did place a hand on the horse’s neck to steady himself. The Lads thankfully kept the pace back to the castle slow, and were careful to stop if Ryan looked as though he was struggling to keep up. Despite his protests they managed to force him to talk to Caleb, who handed him a light red potion to drink.

"Take this," Caleb said, pushing the bottle into Ryan’s hands. "You look like a Creeper tried to blow you up.”

"Thanks," Ryan said, drinking the potion. Unlike his other potions this one was sweet, and didn’t burn on the way down. There was a slight metallic after taste that Ryan didn’t mind too much, but over all he didn’t enjoy it that much. It did make him feel less sore, though, so he supposed that was a plus.

"Are you going to stay for dinner or do you think you’ll head home?" Caleb asked. "I have your other potions ready if you want to take the rest of the night off." Ryan thought about if for a moment before replying. He felt bad about leaving Kerry to do all the work, but even with the healing potion he felt terrible.

"I think I’ll head home," he said. "Do you think Geoff would mind?"

"You almost got killed by a Creeper," Celeb said. "He won’t mind if you want to recover." He handed Ryan a bag with the potions in it. "Take a break and see if you’re feeling any better tomorrow. If not come see me."

"Alright," Ryan said, getting up. "Thanks Caleb."

"You’re welcome," Caleb said.

————

On the walk back to his home Ryan decided to take a short detour through the woods. It was still light enough out to keep him safe from most monsters and what Michael had said earlier had gotten to him. He really didn’t spend much time out of the castle. If he was going to be living in here, which it looked as though he would be staying for a while, he might as well learn the area.

The woods surrounding the castle, from what Ryan could tell, was fairly pleasant. He was careful to watch out for Creepers, and he was sure that every so often he could see an Enderman flit by, but other than that he found there was an unusually large amount of wild rabbits. Wild rabbits which seemed oddly tamed, since they paid Ryan no mind as he walked through their patches of clover. Though maybe they just realized he had no weapons with which to harm them.

Ryan continued to walk without much direction until something shining in the distance caught his eye. Curious, he headed towards the object, his jaw dropping when he saw what it was. A large, about twice his height, tower made entirely of gold, perched upon an obsidian base. Cautiously, Ryan reached out to touch the soft metal, and found that it was quite warm from the time it had spent in the sun. Ryan wet his lips, his pupils dilating despite himself. He was tempted just to shove the entire structure over and drag it home, hiding it in his house to sleep on. The metallic scent was so soft and inviting Ryan found himself growing rather drowsy, and he was even more tempted just to curl up then and there.

Swallowing, Ryan picked up an nearby rock and very carefully began to cut away slivers of the tower, keeping the pieces small and thin so they would not be noticed of anyone else happened upon this spot. He packed up both the gold slivers and the rock he had used to harvest them and quickly headed home.

Of course when he arrived home he was not pleased to find Edgar laying on his recently repaired bed. Or at least it had been recently repaired before the cow decided to break it again under her massive bulk.

"Alright that’s it," Ryan grumbled. "You’re not allowed loose in the house anymore." Edgar gave a low moo but he shook his head. "No I don’t want to hear it. The bed is mine." Grabbing a shovel he started to dig a pit in the floor, large enough for a cow to stand and lay in comfortably. Climbing up out of the pit he grabbed a spare chest and hid it in one of the corners, stashing his new-found gold in it before once again climbing out. Edgar looked at the hole and moved away from the dragon man, mooing.

"Come on, it’s just a hole," he said. "Tomorrow I’ll get you a blanket for it." Edgar gave him a wary look but moved towards the hole either way, finally stepping inside. Ryan smiled and knelt next to the hole, petting her nose.

"There you go," he praised, smiling at the cow. Standing up, he stepped outside for a moment and came back in with a nice patch of grass, which he placed in the hole. "See you even have a snack. Isn’t this better than breaking my bed?" She gave another moo and ate her snack before lying down and falling asleep. Deciding to follow his pet’s lead, Ryan drank his potions before getting changed and lying down on his once again destroyed bed to relax before sleep finally took him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always welcomed and appreciated, so if you like the story let me know.
> 
> This chapter was actually really fun to write despite the recent tragedy in the Rooster Teeth community*, and I enjoyed applying Minecraft elements to the real world.
> 
>  
> 
> *RIP Monty. You will be missed.


	6. Just Blaze!

Almost a week had passed since the Creeper had nearly killed Ryan and he was finally well enough for Jack to let him go into the Nether. Despite having to recover from his encounter with the monster Ryan had insisted that Jack still let him train, mostly against Jack himself, and finally his skills were satisfactory enough for Jack to bring him along. Though even once Jack agreed it didn’t look as though the trip would be happening any time soon if you asked Ryan, seeing as Jack was keeping them at the portal for nearly an hour now going over supplies and rules.

"Few things," Jack said, going over a list of supplies. "I don’t want to be in there for too long but we need to prepare. We need flint and steel, some food and water, pick axes, weapons, and armor. Do we have all of that?" Ryan opened his pack and looked through it.

"I have food and water," he said. "And I have some flint and steel." He closed up the pack and gestured to himself, showing Jack his iron chest-plate and boots before giving the man a wry smile. "I’ve got armor, you’ve got armor, and we both have a sword and pick axe each. I think we’re good, Jack."

"We need to be careful, Ryan," Jack replied. "The Nether is dangerous even when you do everything right."

"I know not to attack the pigmen," Ryan said. "You’ve told me that plenty of times."

"I’m just making sure," Jack said. He looked at the portal and put the list away. "I’ll go in first. Once I’m gone come through." Ryan gave him a mock salute and stepped back as Jack stepped into the portal, the magic warping around the man until he had vanished. Ryan sighed, checked the bands on his armor, and stepped through. He heard the portal wrap around him and purple flooded his vision before he was hit by a wave of heat and the sound of something exploding. Ryan was thrown back from the portal with a grunt and he looked up to see Jack standing next to the now dead portal within The Nether.

"What happened?!" Jack asked. Ryan pushed himself to his feet, thankful this blast was more gentle than the Creeper’s.

"I don’t know," he said. "Maybe a Creeper blew up in as I was going through? I didn’t see one though." Ryan looked around at the surroundings and found that they were in a cave surrounded by an odd, red stone like material. It was hot, incredibly so, and he could see that Jack was already starting to sweat. A bit of panic flashed in Ryan and he wondered how long a human could survive in this environment. Surely at this rate Jack would be suffering shortly.

"Here," Ryan said, handing Jack some water. "You look like you need it. It’s hot in here, wouldn’t want you to dehydrate." Jack took the water and drank some of it before packing the rest away.

"There’s Blazes this way," Jack said, motioning for Ryan to follow him down a tunnel. "We can fix the portal when we come back." Ryan followed Jack, drawing his sword and keeping close to the other man.

"What should we look out for?" Ryan asked. "You seem to know this area."

"This cavern leads directly to a Nether Fortress," Jack said. "So we’ll should be mostly safe from Ghasts. Lava Cubes too. There will be Pigmen, but if we avoid attacking them then they won’t attack us."

"So you’ve said," Ryan said. They stepped onto the floor of the fortress and started down the hall, Jack now drawing his sword. "Anything else?"

"There will probably be a Wither Skeleton or two," Jack continued. "Which we will need to avoid. If they attack you they can poison you. It’s not as bad as The Wither, but it’s still bad." Jack stopped walking, holding an arm out to stop Ryan. Ryan froze and looked around. He heard a metallic sound and turned his head in the direction of the noise. He saw a creature made of smoke and fire, its head floating in the center surrounded by rods of sparking mineral.

"I take it that’s a Blaze," Ryan said. "Should we go for it or hold back?"

"I don’t see any others," Jack said. "And we aren’t near the Spawner, so it may be the only one."

"Spawner?" Ryan asked.

"Cubes of magic that can create monsters," Jack said. "The sorcerer Herobrine is said to have made them centuries ago, when his other spells weren’t working fast enough for his tastes. Blaze Spawners are fueled by the heat of The Nether, and when they get hot enough they create a Blaze. They’re annoying as Hell but useful for gathering supplies."

"But this isn’t one of the spawned Blazes?" Ryan asked. Jack shook his head.

"I don’t think so," he said. "It must have formed naturally. It looks like the only one so we should be safe to attack it." Ryan looked at the creature and suddenly felt the same sense of dread he felt when he realized the heat of The Nether. Jack, a mere human, was planning on attacking a creature of fire.

"Let me go first," Ryan said. Jack opened his mouth to protest but Ryan stopped him. "I can do this Jack trust me." He gave a small smile. "I want to start carrying my weight, y’know. I think I can handle one little Blaze. No reason for us both to rush in and get in each other’s way." Jack thought this over for a moment before nodding.

"Alright but I’m staying close behind you," he said. "And nothing funny just get in, stab it, and get out."

"Can do," Ryan said, readying his sword. He rushed forward and lunged for the creature, plunging his blade deep into its center. Ryan felt his hands start to burn as the heat of the Blaze’s body surrounded them, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle and soon the creature was dead, the Blaze crumbling to ash. He heard Jack come to his side and felt the man place a hand on his shoulder.

"Did it burn you?" He asked. Ryan looked down at his hands, red and slightly blistered from the Blaze, and shook his head.

"It’s not bad," he said. "Nothing worse than the sun can do after a long day in the field." Jack thumped him on the back, something Ryan was still getting used to, and bent down to pick up the rods.

"We got five from this Blaze," he said. "Let’s try and get enough for a month before heading back. If we can get to the Spawner it would make our jobs easier." Ryan smiled.

"Lead the way," he said.

———

Jack led him down the halls of the fortress before stopping at an opening. There was a long bridge running over a lake of lava, but it was open to the air and Ryan could hear something hovering overhead.

"Alright," Jack said. "Remember when I said we shouldn’t run into any Ghasts? Well we ran into a Ghast."

"What’s the plan?" Ryan asked.

"We wait until its back is turned then run across," Jack said. "Wait for my signal." Jack watched the strange creature, a white tentacled creature with a gaping mouth and internal flame. "And…now!" Jack rushed out across the bridge, barely reaching the other side before the Ghast turned and let out a fireball at the bridge where Ryan was standing. Ryan froze and darted back, managing to avoid it.

"Ryan!" Jack yelled from the other side of the bridge. "Are you alright?"

"I’m fine!" Ryan shouted back. He looked out at the bridge, which was wreathed in flames and had a massive hole in the center. "But it looks like the bridge is destroyed. I’ll need to jump!" He looked out at the Ghast and the surrounding area, waiting for an opening. Something moving in the distance caught his eye and focused in on it. It looked as though the material was moving, and upon closer examination Ryan realized what it was. A Nether Dragon. Glancing at Jack Ryan backed up into the hall of the fortress until he was out of sight and cupped his hands around his mouth, letting out a distress roar. Through the window he could see the dragon turn towards the sound and let out a roar of its own. Smiling Ryan let out another roar, indicating the Ghast. The Nether Dragon leaped into the air and flew towards the Ghast, sinking its claws into the creature and biting down on it, dragging it down into the lava.

"Holy shit!" He heard Jack yell. Ryan rushed out onto the bridge and jumped over the gap, ignoring the flames the licked at him. He rushed to Jack’s side, who was currently holding his sword. "Did you see that? A Nether Dragon." Ryan just smiled.

"Guess it was hungry," Ryan said with a shrug. "Need to eat something in here."

"I think I heard a second one," Jack said. "Keep an eye out for it when we come back. Until then let’s get the Blazes. The Spawner is two halls down." Ryan drew his own sword and nodded.

"Let’s go."

——-

When they got to the Spawner Ryan could see what Jack had meant. An odd cube of fire sat in the middle of the hall, fluctuating and occasionally spitting out a Blaze. There were seven already spawned, and it looked as though an eighth was forming.

"What’s the plan?" Ryan asked, tempted to just charge in and kill the creatures to protect Jack from any burns.

"I was thinking we should try and lure them away from the group one by one," Jack said. "But that could be risky."

"I’ll do it," Ryan said. "I’m the reason we’re here."

"Mostly you," Jack said. "Jeremy does waste strength potions sometimes too. The other plan is we charge in, hit them as hard as we can, retreat, and repeat."

"I like that one too," Ryan said. "Sounds faster. Let’s go with that one."

"On the count of three then. One, two, three."

They both charged, making fairly quick work of the startled Blazes. Ryan’s strength and resistance to fire helped greatly, though Jack was unaware of the latter.

"How many did we get?" Ryan asked, ready to stab the eighth Blaze when it formed from the Spawner.

"Twenty Nine," Jack said, packing them up. "Just one more needed." The new Blaze formed next to the Spawner and Ryan drove his sword into it quickly, killing the creature in seconds. The heat burned his hands, but it was still nothing he couldn’t handle. Not compared to what the heat would have done to a human. The corpse died in a pile of ash and Ryan picked two rods from it.

"That makes thirty one," he said, handing them to Jack. "Think we can head back to the castle now?" Jack nodded and they made their way back to the portal, keeping an eye out for the Nether Dragon under Jack’s instructions.

"It sounded like a second one called it to the Ghast," he said.

"Maybe it has a mate?" Ryan offered, shifting a bit and wishing Jack would change the subject. "I’d want to hunt in pairs if those things were floating around. Or maybe the Ghast got too close to a nest and you heard a hatchling?" Jack seemed satisfied with both these possibilities because he dropped the topic. They reached the portal quickly and Jack lit it before stepping through. Ryan was about to step through when he heard a growl coming from around the corner. Drawing his sword, he moved carefully towards the noise, which led him to the same Dragon from before. Putting his sword away Ryan smiled at it.

"Thanks," he said, following it with a growl of appreciation. The Nether Dragon returned the sentiment and Ryan went back to the portal, stepping through.

And once again the portal shut off the second Ryan was free from it.

"Again?!" Jack asked, incredulous. "Was it a Blaze?"

"I didn’t see any," Ryan said. "Maybe it was that dragon," he offered jokingly. Jack shrugged and lit the portal before turning back towards the castle.

"Could be getting old," Jack said. "We’ll need to build a new one."

"Will that mess up the portal on the other side?" Ryan asked. "Or does it not matter?"

"It won’t matter," Jack said. "As long as the new one is close to where the old one is they’ll connect. But it will mean heading down into the caves."

"I’d offer to help but I think you’ve pulled me away from Kerry enough," Ryan joked. "Poor kid is still stuck doing all the work." Jack laughed, thumping Ryan on the back once more.

"I don’t think he minds that much," Jack said. "He’s glad to have any help." He walked into the castle and up to Caleb, who was standing in front of open chests taking inventory.

"Jack," Caleb started. "Do you know how we could have gone through a month’s worth of golden carrots and spider eyes in the span of a week?"

"No but if I had to guess I’d say Jeremy," Jack said, setting down the blaze rods.

"I’m going to start making him get the ingredients," Caleb said with a sigh. "See how much he likes the potions after he’s been chased by Pigmen." He turned around and picked the bag up, smiling. "At least someone is carrying their weight." Ryan smiled back and rubbed his neck.

"Felt bad for taking advantage," he said. "Which speaking of which, I really should go help Kerry with the horses. He should be bringing them in from pasture soon and Hidalgo likes to wander."

"Alright go on," Jack said. "I have armor to make anyway." Ryan nodded and left for the stables.

———-

After helping Kerry round up the horses, including a rather irate Hidalgo who seemed more interested in attempting to trample one of Matt’s wolves than actually return to the stables, Ryan excused himself to the bath room to wash up before dinner. He entered the room, looking around to see whether he was alone or not, and when he found that he was he stripped off his clothes and lowered himself into one of the basins of water, sighing.

No matter how closely tied to fire people believed dragons to be, and it was true that many of them were, especially Drakes, many would claim to always have a soft spot in their hearts for water, and Ryan was no exception. He shifted in the warm water, rather pleased that of all the kings he could have been discovered by, he was found by one who had placed a large amount of resources into bathing. From what he had heard about humans, many weren’t very focused on keeping clean. With another sigh Ryan slid forward, sinking deep into the water until only his face was uncovered. Although he did wonder if that needed to be the case. He could breathe beneath the water’s surface as a dragon, could he do it as a human as well. Exhaling, Ryan slipped fully beneath the water, waiting until his chest began to ache before opening his mouth and letting some water in.

That had been a mistake, he soon learned, as he sat up in the tub, coughing as hit body forced out the water. While his immunity to fire had carried over somewhat, his ability to breathe underwater hadn’t carried over at all. He coughed a few more times before leaving the tub, drying himself and putting his clothes back on before heading to dinner.

——-

If Ryan had hoped that dinner would be uneventful then he was out of luck. Word had gotten around about the Nether Dragon and the Ghast and now everyone was curious.

"Heard you saw a dragon," Matt said, sliding next to Ryan and holding his wolf that Hidalgo had tried to trample. "What was it like?" Ryan shrugged and shifted away from Matt, only to have Jeremy appear out of nowhere on his other side.

"How big was it?" Jeremy asked.

"Maybe you can find out for yourself when Caleb forces you into The Nether for supplies," Ryan said. "And I don’t know I didn’t get a good look at it. Maybe thirty feet long?" That seemed about right to Ryan. It had been smaller than he was, probably an indication it was younger as well, or maybe Nether Dragons were just on average smaller than whatever species he was, but it seemed to him that it would have been longer than half of him.

"So it just attacked the Ghast and left?" Matt asked. "Jack said there were two."

"No Jack _heard_ a second one, but we only saw the one,” Ryan clarified. “Why does it even matter? It’s not like it’s coming through the portal.” Though it probably could if it wanted to. Change into something smaller then pass through. He bristled at that thought; a strange dragon was one thing, when it was in its own territory, but one coming into his? That he couldn’t tolerate.

"It doesn’t matter," Lindsay said as she sat down. "But it’s still pretty cool. Dragons aren’t usually seen often, and Drakes are seen even less than that." Ryan shrugged again.

"There’s not much to it," he said. "It attacked a Ghast that was trying to blast Jack and me. Maybe it was just hungry?" That seemed to mostly satisfy everyone, who started to discuss what it was they thought a Ghast would taste like. Ryan sighed, grateful that the topic of conversation had shifted, and finished his meal. He was relieved that in all the talk of the dragon no one had suggested hunting it, though honestly he wasn’t sure if that was because the dragon was in another dimension or because no one in the kingdom was interested in hunting dragons. It wasn’t something he would be willing to risk his life on.

Once dinner was finished Ryan went to Caleb to collect his potions then headed back to his house. He helped Edgar out of her hole for a short trip outside before helping the cow back down into it. She looked up at him and gave a low moo, but Ryan just patted her head and shrugged.

"I like it better when you aren’t breaking the bed," he said. "Sorry girl." He got changed before laying down and closing his eyes. There was a chill in the air and he made a note to buy more blankets before falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always welcome, and let me know if you see any typos.


	7. Berserker

After journeying to The Nether the next day was rather uneventful in Ryan’s mind. The sheep had escaped their pen and Ryan had to spend the majority of the morning finding them, an endeavor that left him worn out and cursing Jeremy’s name after the knight-in-training had decided to turn half the flock invisible.

"I’m going to kill him," Ryan said to an invisible lamb slung over his shoulders. It baaed at him and he shook his head. "No I mean it I’m going to throw him off the tower. This was a massive waste of everyone’s time and I’m going to throw him off the roof for it." He turned the corner and stopped, raising an eyebrow at a wolf that was laying on its back in the middle of the hall flailing its legs in the air. Ryan backed up slightly, raising an eyebrow.

"Interesting…" he said, watching the odd wolf. He assumed it was one of Matt’s, since Matt was the reason for just about every wolf in the castle, but he had no idea why it was acting so odd. Shuffling past the wolf Ryan returned to the pen and placed the lamb down next to another set of potion swirls.

"I really am going to kill Jeremy for this," he said, looking out at a sea of sheep and swirls. "This is not what I needed." He turned and headed back into the stables, where a worn out Kerry was waiting for him.

"Did we get all the sheep?" Kerry asked. He finished feeding Patches and went over to a chest, shuffling through it.

"Hopefully because I’m done looking for them," Ryan said. He sat down and sighed. "Let some of the wolves eat any stragglers. Which, speaking of wolves, does Matt have one that rolls on its back all day?" Kerry straightened up and turned around, holding a hoof pick and clippers.

"That’s DinnerBone," he said. "One of Ray’s spells gone wrong. We try not to talk about it."

"That doesn’t make it worse at all," Ryan said wryly, standing up and taking the tools before heading to Hidalgo’s pen. As he sat and began to clean the horse’s hooves his mind wandered, drifting back to earlier that morning. He had hoped that today no one would care about the Nether Dragon, and for the most part no one did. At least they had stopped asking Ryan about it. But while hunting for the sheep he had overheard Michael trying to convince Jack to bring him to the Nether to see it and, in the princes’ own words, see how good it could fight. Jack had shot the idea down in an instant, but the knowledge that Michael desired to fight a dragon left Ryan feeling uneasy.  His one solace was that Michael hadn’t specified that he wanted to kill the Nether Dragon, though if the history of humans and his kind were any indication that part was probably implied. He swallowed hard, fighting the mental image of Michael standing over a dragon’s carcass. He knew the princes were kind at heart, but he doubted Michael’s compassionate side would care for something most humans thought a monster. Ryan finished cleaning Hidalgo’s hooves and moved onto the others, his mind stuck on this topic.

He wished he could tell them, he desperately did. But he knew that they would reject him. How could they not? He had joined their company under false pretenses and was a monster on top of that. If he was lucky they would kill him quickly. If he wasn’t they would torture him first. Dragons were monsters to be slain by heroes. They weren’t men you had tend to your horses. Ryan smiled a moment at the absurdity of it. How everyone was so fascinated by a dragon from The Nether when they had one of their own right under the castle roof. One who fed their flocks and ate at their tables.

"Hey Kerry," Ryan started, tempted to try something. "Wouldn’t it be odd if Gavin wasn’t really a person? Like he was some sort of bird creature pretending to be a person?"

"You mean he isn’t?" Kerry asked, gaining a laugh from the dragon. "But nah, if he was a bird I think Geoff would order Jack to build an aviary so Gavin couldn’t fly too high and hurt himself. But hey, if Gavin’s a bird does that make Matt a werewolf? Maybe the pack’s extended his family." Ryan smiled, glad Kerry hadn’t taken his questioning as something to be wary of.

"Is Linday a cat then?" Ryan asked. "And let me guess, Jeremy is a dwarf."

"No that last one is true," Kerry said. He placed a hand to his chin, looking Ryan over. "Hmm….you’d be a Minotaur. Edgar’s your girlfriend." The tension that had come into Ryan’s shoulders when he realized Kerry intended to play their new game on him melted away in an instant once Kerry named the creature.

"I could see that," he said. "You’re also a dwarf," he added. "A shaved one." Kerry’s outrage made him laugh, a smile coming to his face as continued to work.

————

After he had finished with the horses Ryan sought Jack out, desperate to continue his training. He was getting better with the sword as time went on, and he wanted to see just how far his mastery could go. After searching the castle and having no luck, Ryan decided to head down towards the forge, hoping that Jack would be down there.

Jack was in the forge, hammering away at a blackened piece of metal which Ryan could not recognize. He approached slowly, cocking his head to the side. It looked almost like iron, but something was off.

"Do you need something?" Jack asked, not looking up from his work. Ryan jumped, startled, and shook his head.

"Just wanted to see if I could train today," he said. "But I can wait." He looked at the material again, which no matter how much Jack worked at it refused to bend its shape. "What is that?"

"I’m trying to blend obsidian into armor," Jack said, frowning down at his work. "I still haven’t figured it out, though."

"Has anyone?" Ryan asked. Obsidian was tough, his other form just barely able to break it when he strained himself. The thought of having armor made from it was both exciting and terrifying. It could greatly benefit both friends and foes alike.

"A few people have figured it out," Jack said, stepping away from the anvil and turning to Ryan. "So far I’m not one of them," he added, earning a laugh from Ryan. "I think I’m done for the day, so how about we train now?" Ryan nodded, still smiling as he followed Jack out of the forge and up the stairs.

"Sounds good to me," he said. "The Lads are already in the training circle."

"All three?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, why?" Ryan asked. Jack sighed, rubbing at his beard and going quiet for an uncomfortably long moment.

"I think it’s time you faced Michael," he said finally. "He’s been anxious to train with you for a while, I think he’s getting bored. But Michael is…"

"I know what Michael is, Jack," Ryan said. "You’ve told me before. But I’ll be fine. I think I can handle Michael, berserk or not."

"No," Jack said firmly, turning to Ryan. "If he starts to lose himself don’t fight him. He will kill you. Promise me you won’t try and take him on." Ryan raised his hands up.

"Alright I won’t," he said. "But I still think you’re overreacting. We’ll be fine. If Michael loses himself I’ll get out of his way."

"Good," Jack said. "And listen to me during the fight. I’ll be keeping an eye on him."

"Got it, Jack," Ryan said, rolling his eyes. "You worry about the boys more than Geoff does. You’re like their mom." Jack smiled a little at that.

"I did help Geoff raise them," he said. "Found them in the rubble. Though if you think I worry wait until one of them is hurt. Geoff turns murderous when they’re in danger." From what Ryan had seen of the king Geoff was fairly laid back. Not overly aggressive or prone to violence. He wondered what the king was like enraged. It was probably frightening.

They reached the training circle to find the three princes in a pile on the ground, each one trying to pin the others. Ryan smiled, feeling the suddenly childish urge to get involved but he stayed back, watching. Michael appeared to be winning the tussle until Gavin and Ray joined forces to pin the eldest Lad, who struggled from beneath their combined weight. Ryan laughed at the sight, gaining their full attention as they all struggled to get to their feet, a tangle of limbs and cloaks.

"Stop messing around, assholes," Jack said, a good humor in his voice. "It’s finally time for Ryan to fight Michael." Michael’s face lit up at that while Gavin pouted dramatically.

"Aw but Jack," he whined. "We just got Rye. You can’t let Michael cut him up already." Ryan raised an eyebrow at the nickname.

"Rye?" He asked. The prince nodded.

"Yeah Rye Bread," he said. "Like your name." Ryan played with the nickname in his head for a bit before shrugging. There had been an odd sort of familiarity in the way that Gavin had said the name which Ryan had found odd but not uninvited.

"Alright," he said, going over to pick up a sword. "Unfortunately Gavin Jack says I need to fight Michael so I’m going to have to fight Michael. I’ll be fine though."

"Yeah Gav he’ll be fine," Michael said, getting his own sword ready. "I’ve never killed anyone while training."

"That doesn’t mean you haven’t injured anyone," Ray said, motioning to a scar on the bridge of his nose. "Or was this on purpose." Michael shot his fellow prince a threatening look before Jack stepped forward.

"Ray’s right, Michael," he said. "You haven’t killed anyone in training, but you’ve come close. The rules still apply. If you start to lose yourself, stop."

"I know the rules," Michael snapped, stepping into the circle. "He’ll be fine." Ryan entered the circle as well, readying his sword.

"I got this, Jack," he said. "I’ve been to The Nether, how bad can this kid be?" Michael let out an indignant ‘hey!’ while Gavin and Ray laughed, though there was an edge to it. Ryan had never seen a berserker before, they had. They all knew just how bad Michael could be.

"Alright," Jack said. "Count of three. One, two, three!"

The second he had the chance to move Michael did, charging at Ryan like some sort of feral beast. Ryan lifted up his sword to block Michael’s attack, altering his footing so that he could use his superior weight to knock the prince back. His sword locked with Michael’s and he shoved, pushing Michael back away from him and allowing Ryan to go on the offensive. He charged forward, hoping to knock Michael down and pin him before he could right himself, but Michael recovered almost instantly from being thrown back and was on Ryan again in seconds. Ryan locked swords with Michael, too heavy and too strong for Michael to knock off his feet, though it didn’t stop the prince from pushing forward.

Rather abruptly something in Michael’s eyes turned dangerous and he pulled back suddenly from Ryan, dancing out of the dragon-man’s reach. Ryan, who had been pushing back against Michael, stumbled forward, barely managing to right himself just as Michael made a swipe for Ryan’s throat. Ryan froze, changing the angle of his sword to better defend himself, and started to back away. “Michael?” He asked, not daring to take his eyes off The Lad.

"Michaek stop!" Jack called out. "That’s enough! The match is over." Michael stalked towards Ryan, eyes still dangerous, and poised his sword to try for another blow. He went to charge but Jack moved faster, driving the hilt of his own sword into Michael’s head. The prince staggered and shook his head, dropping his sword and reaching up to touch the forming bruise.

"Jack?" He asked, looking around. He saw the concern and unease on Jack’s face, the slight fear on Gavin and Ray’s and when his eyes came to rest on Ryan, and when he saw that he was breathing too quickly and holding his sword in a way to defend himself, Michael turned and ran.

"Michael!" Gavin yelled, almost running after him before Jack stopped him.

"Give him some space," the man said gently. "Let him calm down." He turned towards Ryan, who was busy placing his sword back on the wrack.

"I’m done for the day," Ryan said, glancing in the direction Michael had ran. "I think I’m going to head back to the stables."

"Sorry about Michael," Jack said. "He doesn’t mean any harm."

"It’s fine," Ryan replied. "No harm was done." He left as Jack readied Ray and Gavin to start a spar of their own.

——-

Ryan wondered for a moment, as he walked through the castle on the way to Michael’s room, if lying to The King’s Hand was treason, and if so how much trouble would he be in if he was spotted. Normally he would have gone back to the stables, but Michael had looked so guilty when he ran off that it didn’t feel right to Ryan to just leave the boy alone with himself. Slowly he approached the prince’s room, which was still partially destroyed from Gavin’s TNT prank. The door was open, so he looked inside, seeing Michael sitting on the bed, his hands balled up in angry fists and his eyes red and teary.

"Hey," Ryan said gently, walking into the room and sitting down next to the boy. "Are you alright?" Michael sniffed and turned away from Ryan, wiping at his eyes.

"Yeah," he said. "I’m fine. What do you want?"

"You ran off before anyone could talk to you," Ryan said. "You’re sure you’re alright?"

"What do you care?!" Michael snapped, turning to face Ryan, angry, bitter tears coming back into his eyes. "I almost killed you!" Ryan lifted up a hand, trying to calm Michael down.

"But you didn’t," he said. "You didn’t kill me and I’m still here." He placed the hand on The Lad’s back, trying to imitate some of what he had seen Jack do. Michael sniffed again and curled in on himself.

"I try not to I really do," he said. "I try to listen to Jack but it just gets away from me and then I hurt people." Ryan frowned, wishing he could help in some way. If they knew what he was then maybe he could match Michael’s rage, give him something to fight against that he couldn’t kill so easily.

"Is there a way for you to work off the energy?" Ryan asked. "Something else you can hurt instead of people you care about?"

"Why do you think I hunt so much?" Michael asked. "I need something to do or I’ll go crazy."

"Maybe the next time I go into The Nether Jack will let you come with us," Ryan offered. "How does that sound? Let you kill some of the blazes." Michael smiled, wiping at his eyes.

"That sounds like fun," he said. "Thanks Rye Bread." Ryan laughed at the nickname, still caught off guard by how absurd it was.

"That’s really my nickname now, huh?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Michael laughed as well, nodding.

"Hey it was Gavin’s idea, not mine," Michael argued. "You don’t like it go beat up Gav."

"Nah," Ryan said. "I’ll get used to it." He stood up, glancing towards the door. "I should head down to the stables. Jack doesn’t know I’m here." Michael nodded.

"It’s cool," he said. "Go help Kerry with shit. I’ll see you later."

"See you," Ryan said before leaving to finish up his work for the day.


	8. Mines and Monsters

Ryan did talk to Jack about letting Michael come with them to their next trip into The Nether, and while Jack had been hesitant he did agree that some time out and the ability to fight something Michael would be allowed to destroy could do The Lads some good. After discussing it with Geoff, Jack sought Ryan out and told him that he had the king’s permission to take the lads down into the mines, so long as they didn’t venture too far off the established paths. Ryan was excited to see what the mines were like, and to see if there might be any small bits of ore he could collect, so once he heard the news he tracked down The Lads as quickly as possible. They were all up with Caleb gathered around a brewing stand, trying and apparently failing to make potions of leaping.

"Why are we doing this again?" Ray asked, looking at the brewing stand.

"I want to see if I can jump a ravine," Gavin said, placing some redstone into the mix.

"Is there a flying potion because we should just make that for you," Michael said. "Let you grow wings and finally embrace your inner bird." Gavin paused for a moment, considering this possibility.

"Maybe if we added feathers," he suggested. Ryan smiled as he heard the discussion, laughing when Gavin made his suggestion.

"I don’t know," he said, stepping into the room. "Chickens are bad fliers."

"What about hawk feathers then?" Gavin asked. "Or crow feathers?"

"Let’s just stick to the potions we know first," Michael said. "We can’t even get those right, let alone invent our own."

"Did you need something, Ryan?" Ray asked, looking up from the failed potion.

"Jack’s letting me take you three down into the mines," Ryan said. "And we should probably get going before the sun sets. Unless you want to fight every skeleton and zombie around for miles."

"Can I bring my sword?" Michael asked, suddenly interested.

"We need someone to kill the monsters," Ryan said. Michael beamed and Ryan felt a warmth stir in his chest, glad that Michael had recovered from the mishap that had happened yesterday. "Go grab your crap and meet me by the front gate," Ryan said, and the three princes rushed passed him before he could leave the room.

"I think they like you," Caleb said, and Ryan just shrugged.

"What’s not to like?" He asked before heaving to gather his own supplies. Once he had gathered everything he needed, including a diamond pickaxe which shone oh so temptingly in the sun, Ryan headed outside of the gate to wait, sitting down and enjoying the moment of quiet he had before The Lads showed up. The quiet moment didn’t last long, since Michael and Gavin seemed to already be arguing about something involving skeletons before they even reached Ryan, but it was a nice moment none the less.

"Ready?" He asked. They nodded, all grinning. "Alright. Uh…one of you should lead the way. I don’t actually know where the mines are."

"I can do it!" Gavin said, excited. Ryan frowned, looking at the other two. Michael shrugged.

"Don’t look at me I get lost all the time," he said. "Gavin knows his way around."

"I can do it, Rye," Gavin whined. Ryan sighed before nodding.

"Don’t get us lost," he said. Gavin perked up instantly and started to lead the way without hesitation.

"Don’t worry," he said. "I won’t."

——-

To Gavin’s credit he only got them lost once, and only for half an hour. Still, that was half an hour less that they could safely spend in the mines, so neither Michael nor Ray were happy about their brother’s blunder.

"You stupid fuck," Michael repeated for what seemed like the tenth time. "How do you miss the giant tower of sponge?"

"I thought that was a different one!" Gavin said, frantic to defend himself. "Geoff made more than one!"

"Guys we’re here," Ray said, cutting into the fight before it could get any worse. "Also, I hear zombies." Ryan frowned, his brows knitting together as he stepped forward, listening for what Ray had heard. Sure enough, the tell-tale sound of moaning was coming up from the cave.

"Stay close to me," Ryan said, fighting a growl that was forming in his throat as he drew his sword. "I can handle this." He stepped forward before stopping, looking back at Micheal. The Lad was still agitated from Gavin’s blunder, but now he mostly looked put off. "Or…Michael? Do you think you can handle this?" Michael perked up almost instantly, drawing his sword and grinning.

"Fuck yeah!" He said, heading into the cave. Ryan followed close behind, with Ray and Gavin clinging to him like two babes, as they followed the sound of the zombies. They rounded the corner and came across two, their flesh a sickly green color, covered in rot and falling off in places. Their movements were jerky, as though whatever spell had raised them was only barely making up for the life they once had had. The Zombies noticed them and started towards them, slowly, and Michael rushed forward, dispatching one with relative easy. Ryan moved as well, severing the head of the second.

"Only two," Michael said. "Not too bad. They’re only really dangerous if they catch you unarmed or in a horde. If they can swarm you then they can kill you."

"Bloody bastards," Gavin muttered.

"Actually," Ryan said, wiping his sword clean, "they seem to have very little blood. Guess that’s what happens after you’ve been dead for a while. And I’m sure at least one of them was someone whose parents were married." Gavin huffed and Ryan let out a laugh, patting the prince on the back. "I knew what you meant, though."

"So now what?" Ray asked. "Should we split up or all stay together?"

"Stay together, I would think," Ryan said. "Maybe split into pairs but stay close together?"

"That could work," Ray said.

"I call Ray," Michael said quickly. "I mean, me and Ryan are the ones with swords and Gavin and Ray can do ranged attacks, so we should split things up that way."

"Aw but Micool…" Gavin whined. "I want to team up with you."

"Sorry, already called Ray," Michael said. "I don’t want to deal with it when you find lava."

"Don’t wander off the main paths," Ryan said. "I don’t want anything to go wrong. Geoff would kill me if something happens to you."

"He wouldn’t do that," Michael said.

"Well he’s the king so he probably could if he wanted to," Ray said. Ryan groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"Just be careful," he said.

They split up, heading down two joined tunnels and started mining. It was peaceful, with Ryan finding mostly coal and the occasional bits of iron ore, when suddenly Gavin let out a panicked cry. Ryan turned and saw Gavin trying to fight a large, silver creature with his pickaxe, and doing a poor job of it. The wall near Gavin crumbled, and as more of the creatures broke free Ryan rushed over, sword drawn, and dispatched them as quickly as he could before turning to Gavin.

Gavin was breathing hard and shaking, with his arms and legs covered in bites and scratches. He whined, a sound that broke Ryan’s heart a little, and Ryan walked over to him.

"Let me see," he said. Gavin offered Ryan his arms and Ryan took a potion out of his bag, dabbing it gently onto the wounds. Gavin winced and squirmed, but the potion healed his cuts nicely. Ryan patted him on the back and gave The Lad a small smile.

"You’re alright," he said gently. "Come on, let’s keep going. I think I hear lava. And lava means diamond." Gavin perked up at that, and followed Ryan, helping to carefully look for where the lava might be.

After a few minutes of searching they found a small cavern with a pool of lava in it. It gave off a welcome source of light, and Ryan could see a patch of emeralds and gold positioned across from them.

"Think we can find a way to it?" He asked Gavin. Gavin nodded, grinning.

"I can do this," he said, gathering up some of the rocks, seemingly intent to build a bridge across. But he underestimated how hot the lava was, even at this distance, and when a bubble burst and burnt his hand he recoiled, crying out and losing his balance. He stumbled back and slipped, nearly falling into the lava. Ryan reacted quickly, grabbing Gavin’s sleeve and pulling him away from the lava. Though in his haste, he didn’t check his own footing and his left foot up to the knee sank into the molten rock. It first it was merely warm, almost comforting, but slowly it started to become hot and soon it was burning, painful enough to make Ryan cry out. He had never been burned like this before, even his experiment with the torch or the Blazes couldn’t compare, and he had to grit his teeth to keep from crying out some more. Gavin seemed stunned for a moment, too stunned to move, but he shook himself and moved in to help, grabbing Ryan’s arm and pulling him out of the lava.

"Ryan!" He said, sounding panicked. Ryan winced, his breathing coming in too quick and his leg aching. He looked over at Gavin, who was shaking and looked ready to cry, and gently reached out, rubbing The Lad’s back.

"I’m alright," he said, though he couldn’t stop himself from groaning in pain. "Just a little burned."

"You bloody fell in lava," Gavin said. "How is your leg still whole?" Ryan froze, his heart skipping a beat. This was wrong, deeply wrong, and Gavin was going to figure that out. They all would, and they would tell Geoff. Ryan could see the entire thing play out in his head, Geoff would force him to explain and have Ryan killed once he found out what he was. "Ryan?" Gavin’s voice brought him out of the thought, back down to reality. The Prince looked worried and terrified, and his earlier confusion seemed forgotten. Ryan swallowed, partially because of nerves and partially because of pain, and smiled at Gavin.

"I drank a potion of fire resistance earlier," Ryan lied. "Wanted to see what it would do. I guess the affects are still lingering, huh? Lucky me." It was a horrible lie, but Gavin seemed ready to accept it. "Now, can you get me the rest of what I used on your bites? My leg really hurts." Gavin nodded and fetched the potion, dumping the whole thing on Ryan’s leg before helping him to stand.

Ray and Michael came down the tunnel, calling to Ryan and Gavin. They reached them in no time, freezing when they saw Ryan using Gavin as a support?

"What happened?" Ray asked.

"You dumb fuck," Michael said, looking at Gavin. "What did you do?"

"I slipped in lava trying to keep Gavin from slipping into lava," Ryan explained, wincing. "I’ll be alright though. I was testing out a fire resistance potion earlier and I guess the affects lingered longer than I thought. Still hurts, though." It occurred to Ryan that he would need to steal a potion of fire resistance once he was back at the castle, but if Caleb was distracted with Jeremy, as he usually was, that shouldn’t be an issue.

"Are you alright to walk?" Michael asked. "We should head back to the castle now, if we’re going to get back before the sun sets."

"I’m fine," Ryan said. "I can walk."

———

Luckily for Ryan the pain subsided surprisingly quickly, though if it was thanks to the potion or his own magic he wasn’t sure. The walk back to the castle still stung though, and he excused himself to go wash up almost immediately after entering the massive building. Slipping away from The Lads, he went to Caleb’s potion room, glad to see that he wasn’t there, and quickly stole a potion of fire resistance, downing it before placing the bottle into his bag and heading to the bath room. Once he was there he stripped off his boots and examined his leg.

The flesh was red and tender, and stung when he touched it, but outside of that seemed to have no lasting damage. It didn’t even look as though it would scar. Thanking his luck, he stripped off the rest of his clothes and bathed himself, relaxing in the water before heading down to dinner.

"Hey Ryan," Lindsay said as Ryan sat down. "I heard you fell into lava."

"How did you…" Ryan started before realizing the answer to his own question. "Michael told you?"

"Hell yeah he did," Lindsay said. "And I thought only Gavin was dumb enough to do that. How did you fall into lava?" Ryan rubbed the back of his neck, turning pink.

"It was actually Gavin’s fault," he said. "I practically had to dive into it to keep him from falling into it."

"How’s your leg?" Kerry asked.

"It’s fine," he said. "I was testing a potion out earlier, sorry Caleb, and the affects must have been lingering."

"It’s fine," Caleb assured him. "Lucky odds, though. You could have been killed."

He would have been killed if he hadn’t been a dragon. Ryan knew that all too well, and he was thankful for his species. But it still wasn’t safe to tell the others, so he wondered if he should start requesting fire resistance potions as well.

"Did you hear in about six months Geoff and the princes are going to visit Roosterteeth?" Matt asked, changing the subject. "Think they’ll let one of us go, too?"

"Here’s hoping," Lindsay said. "I could use to see Meg again."

"What’s Roosterteeth?" Ryan asked.

"It’s Geoff’s old kingdom," Jeremy said. "Geoff, Gus, and Burnie founded it, but then Geoff left to found his own kingdom. Gus and Burnie are still the kings of Roosterteeth."

"Why did Geoff leave?" Ryan asked, wondering about the relation he had with the other kingdom. Everyone seemed to be speaking of it fondly, but then why would Geoff have left?

"Just wanted his own kingdom," Kerry said. "Roosterteeth is still our close allies, though. Geoff, Gus, and Burnie were all once knights in The Kingdom of Austin, but they left after a disagreement with their king. They wandered around for a while before uniting some free villages and tribes. Next thing you know, they were kings. But even after Geoff left, they never forgot about him." Ryan nodded, eating as he listened to the story.

"Alright," he said, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Maybe I should visit this kingdom."

"No way," Lindsay said. "I’m going first." The argument continued throughout dinner, getting heated enough for Lindsay to tackle Jeremy from across the table, reducing Geoff and Ryan to tears. Once everyone had calmed down Ryan excused himself and headed home, getting changed before crawling into bed and falling asleep.

——-

Late into the night, when the moon was high in the sky and the animals were silent, a noise coming from outside awoke Ryan from his sleep. Edgar gave an anxious moo from inside her hole, shifting back and forth. Frowning, Ryan got out of bed and went over to the window in his door, trying to see what had disturbed him. It was dark outside, pitch black with not even the lights of the other houses lit to provide some light. He thought he saw something move, a swift jump followed by faint purple sparks, and frowned. He news what those sparks meant, and it wasn’t good. Backing away from the window, he fetched his sword and stepped outside, tensing as he searched for the intruder.

He heard it flit by behind him and turned, but it had vanished by the time he was facing where it had been. Growling out of instinct, he backed up slowly, eyes scanning the area for any sign of it. He saw the sparks again and followed where they led, until he found himself staring directly into the eyes of an Enderman.

The creature was a half taller than Ryan, with a hide as black as the night sky and eyes that shone with the same eery purple that its sparks were. It was horribly gaunt, nearly skeletal but without sign of any ribs or joints, and its limbs were disproportionately long, with its hands ending in sharp talon-like fingers. The creature growled at him, unhinging its jaw to reveal matching rows of sharp fangs, and lunged.

Ryan went to slash at it with his sword, but it teleported away before he could make contact. He backed up, trying to use the trees as some form of cover, but it appeared suddenly behind him and knocked him down, sending his sword sliding across the ground. He shook his head, trying to get his bearings back, but before he could the creature had him by the throat and had lifted him up to its eye level, pinning him against a tree. Ryan choked, grabbing its wrist and kicking at it but its arm was too far for him to reach.

"No one will help you, human," The creature hissed, it’s voice a whispering rasp. Its grip tightened, its claws digging into Ryan’s neck and drawing five small trickles of blood. Ryan coughed, his vision starting to fade. "Not you nor anyone else in your kingdom. We will have a new home." Ryan swallowed and use the creatures arm to lift himself slightly, just enough to get in a breath and to keep from being hanged in the Enderman’s grasp. He blinked until his vision had returned to him and looked around for the gleam of his sword. He saw it a ways away and knew he wouldn’t be able to reach it in time.

"Any last words, human?" The Enderman asked, and Ryan felt a growl bubble up in his throat. He glared at the creature, his pupils turning to slits and his irises consuming the whites of his eyes. He tightened his grip on the creature’s wrist with one hand and moved his other one up as far as he could reach, grabbing its elbow in a crushing grip.

"I’m not human," he growled before snapping the creature’s arm, the bone piercing the flesh and ripping the lower limb from the Enderman’s body. The creature cried out in agony and tried to teleport away, but it was bleeding heavily and it faltered, only managing to leap away a few feet. Rushing to his sword, Ryan grabbed the weapon and turned, shoving it up and into the Enderman’s chest. It gave out a low rattle before trembling once and dying, its eyes growing dim and blank. Ryan dropped his sword before collapsing on the ground, exhausted.

"Ryan?" Ryan jumped at the sound of his name being spoken and turned, blinking in the unexpected light of a torch. Once he could see again, he saw Kerry and Caleb standing in front of him, looking shocked. "What did you do?"


	9. Warrior

Ryan paced in a small room within the castle, anxious. Thankfully Kerry and Caleb hadn’t seen him change slightly, at least he didn’t think they had, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still shocked that he had managed to slay an Enderman almost entirely barehanded. He had his potions to fall back on, but they had still insisted on bringing him to the castle to speak with Geoff. Who was currently in the throne room discussing the matter with Jack, leaving Ryan to panic alone in what looked to be a storage closet.

Ryan desperately hoped that Caleb and Kerry hadn’t seen him change. He could explain his strength thanks to the potions, and he had managed to lie his way out of the lava, but if they had seen his eyes then he was trapped. There wasn’t a potion around that could do that, at least not to Ryan’s knowledge. Night Vision affected sight but didn’t have a physical change, not like what Ryan had went through. He shivered and sat down on the floor, wringing his hands. The creature’s blood was still on them and for a moment Ryan considered sneaking off to clean them. Surely Geoff wouldn’t mind if he vanished for a moment. But then again, the king had looked unusually serious when Kerry had told him what Ryan had done, and when Ryan had confirmed it. But for some reason he had wanted to speak with Caleb and Kerry about it alone with only Jack, not Ryan. Ryan tried to think of why that could have been, what reason Geoff could have had. Did he have suspicious that Ryan was not human, and was hoping that Kerry or Caleb would confirm them? Maybe it was just something as simple as wanting to hear the story from a native first, someone who knew the kingdom and the war with the Endermen better than Ryan did.

A new worry appeared in Ryan’s head, unconnected to Geoff discovering his species. They were at war with the Endermen, Ryan knew that, and there was a chance he had just made everything worse. He had no idea who he had killed outside of someone who had attacked him. He could have slain a diplomat or a member of their ruling class, if they had any. He wondered for a moment if he had killed a hot-headed prince such as Michael.

This new train of thought amused him, and he focused in on it, if only to calm his nerves. He tried to imagine them all having an Ender counterpart, and he wondered if The Enderdragon ever turned into an Enderman. Or Enderwoman, if they existed, for he had heard that The Enderdragon may be female. But he had also heard that they could be both, and he had never spoken to one long enough to ask. And even if he had, the topic may be rather rude if he hadn’t meant to court them.

Ryan jumped as the door opened, going as still as a spooked deer. Standing on the other side was Jack, who had a warm grin on his face. Or at least it normally would have been warm. But with his growing panic it just unsettled Ryan more, too many horrible images going through his mind for him to realize that it was just Jack, the same as always.

"Geoff’s ready to talk to you now," Jack said. He looked at Ryan, saw that the other man looked as though he was about to have a panic attack, and glanced about the room, frowning. "Sorry about this. Geoff didn’t want you eavesdropping."

"Eavesdropping on what?" Ryan asked, barely managing to swallow the lump in his throat. He forced himself to relax, repeated to himself that this was Jack and that if Jack was happy about his talk with Geoff than it couldn’t be that bad. Jack wouldn’t be this happy if they were going to execute Ryan as some sort of monster, right? "Hey if it means anything the Enderman attacked me first." He wanted it to be known that he hadn’t gone looking for a fight, not exactly. Though now he had wished he had just stayed in his house and ignored the noise.

"Save the story for when we get to Geoff," Jack said, not annoyed but not wanting Ryan to have to repeat himself too many times. He motioned for Ryan to follow him and he did, happy to be out of the storage room. "He already got the story from Caleb and Kerry, but he wants to hear it from you too. And calm down. Geoff isn’t upset." Ryan tried to relax, tried to calm down as Jack had suggested. But his heart was still pounding in his chest and he didn’t know what to do. He just wanted to go back to his house, return to his bed and rest, not be led through the castle to an unknown fate. He tried to tell himself that there was no way that Geoff would know what he was, not unless Ryan panicked and told the king himself, but that did little to calm his nerves.

"What didn’t he want me eavesdropping on?" Ryan asked, remembering his question. "What were you and him talking about?" Jack laughed, a friendly sound, and Ryan finally felt himself slowly relax. The walk was doing him some good, finally being free of the storage room and feeling more like a member of the castle staff again and less like a prisoner.

"If I told you what we were talking about that would defeat the purpose of me keeping you from eavesdropping," Jack said, smiling. "Don’t worry, I think you’ll like it. But Geoff wants to hear from you first before he decides anything.”

Ryan just nodded, still unsure as to what exactly Geoff would be deciding. Jack didn’t seem willing to answer that question, as though it was some sort of secret, so Ryan just continued to follow the man into Geoff’s throne room. Geoff was sitting on his throne examining Ryan’s sword, which was still dripping Ender blood. He had a curious frown on his face, more intent than upset, and when Jack cleared his throat he looked up from the weapon and grinned.

"Ryan!" He said, motioning for the stable hand to approach. "Come over here you magnificent bastard. I want to talk to you." Ryan swallowed and, mostly satisfied that Geoff wasn’t going to drive his own sword into his throat the second he was in range, approached the throne, kneeling down at the foot of it and bowing his head low.

"My Lord," Ryan said, his heart still pounding in his ears. "Jack told me you were trying to decide something."

"I am," Geoff said. "And stand up. You don’t need to kneel I just wanted to talk." Ryan stood up as Geoff continued, "I want you to tell me your side of what happened with the Enderman. Kerry and Caleb only saw the aftermath." Ryan nodded, inhaling before he began the story.

"I was inside of my house," he started, shifting his wait as Jack walked past him and took his place by Geoff’s side. "I was in my house asleep when I heard a noise coming from outside. It disturbed both me and Edgar, and I should have ignored it but something seemed wrong." He wet his lips, looking up at Jack and Geoff to see if their faces would betray any emotion, yet found them both to be fairly neutral. "I looked out the window to see if I could identify what was making the noise when I saw the sparks from an Enderman. I knew we were at war with the Endermen, so I reacted without thinking. I grabbed my sword and went outside, hoping to fight and drive it off." Or kill it, he added in his head. He wasn’t sure what his intentions were, he had just acted as he thought he should, to keep everyone safe. "It attacked me, knocking the sword from my hand, and pinned me to a tree." He looked down at his hands, at the drying blood, and swallowed. "As you know, my Lord, I drink three potions of strength every night. Now I will admit that it’s a pretty weird custom, but I think it saved my life. I snapped the creatures arm from it’s body and stabbed it in the chest before it could escape. And then Kerry and Caleb stumbled across us and…yeah. Here I am." He looked up at Geoff and was taken aback to see the man grinning.

"That’s awesome as dicks, dude," he said. "You really ripped its arm off?"

"Well…" Ryan said, shrugging a bit. "Lower arm, at least." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, still unsure as to what was going to happen. Geoff nodded, looking over at Jack.

"What do you think?" He asked his Hand. "Think I should do it?" Jack nodded.

"I think so," Jack said. "I’ve been training with him almost every day. He held his own in The Nether well, and he’s strong." Ryan swallowed.

"Can someone please tell me what’s happening?" He asked, interrupting Jack. He regretted it instantly but his heart was in his throat and he wanted to know what was going to happen to him. Geoff sighed and turned away from Jack, facing Ryan and leaning forward in his throne.

"We’re at war," he said, looking unusually grim. "You know that. You almost died tonight because of it." Ryan nodded, listening as Geoff continued. "We have allies but it’s not enough, we need more warriors of our own. Jack says you’ve been training with him lately, that you’re getting fairly decent with a sword."

"I’m alright," Ryan said. "I can defend myself with one. Kill Blazes." He wet his lips, starting to realize what Geoff was suggesting. "My Lord…you hired me as a stable hand. I can’t fight for you. I know how to use a sword but I don’t know organized combat."

"You can be taught," Geoff said. "And if I like you, then maybe I’ll even knight you. What do you say?" Ryan froze, this thought circling around his head. A knight. Geoff wanted him as a warrior, trusted him enough to consider making him a knight. A vague sense of pride and honor swelled in his chest and he lowered himself down onto one knee, bowing his head low.

"I would be honored, King Geoff," he said. "I’m sure Kerry will miss my help in the stables, but if you need me for combat than you will have me." He kept his head bowed low, waiting for Geoff to give a sign that he could relax.

"Stand up, Buddy," Geoff said, waiting until Ryan was standing before continuing. "Head back to your house and get some sleep. It’s still night, and you’ve had a long one. Tomorrow your training will really begin." Ryan bowed again, smiling.

"Thank you, My King," he said. "I won’t disappoint you." Feeling adequately dismissed, he turned and walked back to his home, his heart racing with delight. He was going to be a warrior, maybe a knight. It was both an exciting and terrifying prospect, but the thought of combat appealed to a more primal side of him, the side that had taken over when he battled the Enderman. When he reached his house he was almost too excited to sleep. It occurred to him as he lay in bed that his hands were still bloody, and that he had forgotten his sword back at the castle, but he didn’t care.

He was going to be a warrior.


	10. Training

Ryan was at the castle as early as he could be the next morning, ready to train. His heart fluttered in his chest, excited, and it took all he could manage not to pace around the training grounds as he waited for Jack. He was going to be one of Geoff’s official warriors, and he was beyond excited. The thought of being able to prove himself to the king who had taken him in. Though he managed not to pace he wasn’t able to keep from bouncing on the balls of his feet. His hands were clammy and his stomach was doing flips, but he was more excited now than he had been in a while.

Jack showed up not long after Ryan did, with Matt, Jeremy, and Lindsay close behind. All of them were fully armored and armed, and Ryan’s stomach lurched when it occurred to him how serious this training was going to be. Jack stopped in front of Ryan with the other three positioning themselves around him, suitably surrounding the former stable-hand. Jack held out Ryan’s sword, which the man took, and stepped back.

“Are you ready?” Jack asked. Ryan looked around, noticing that the three other warriors had unsheathed their swords. He swallowed, a cold trickle of fear forming in his belly, until his gaze met Lindsay’s. It was more serious than usual, but not cruel, and it helped settle his nerves. It would be difficult for sure, and he may receive some injuries, but the purpose was to train him, not harm him. He looked back at Jack and nodded.

“I’m ready,” he said, waiting. Jack nodded back, stepped out of the ring, and let out a low whistle.

Matt and Jeremy lunged at once, Jeremy aiming for Ryan’s legs while Matt aimed for his chest. The flat edge of Jeremy’s sword caught Ryan in the shin and he winced, jumping back. He blocked Matt’s swing, kicking the lighter boy in the leg to knock him off balance before turning towards Jeremy. Jeremy was faster than he looked, and his short, stout build meant it was harder for him to be knocked off his feet. Ryan sidestepped an attack and countered a sword thrust, only to have the flat edge of a blade slam against his back, rattling his teeth. He spun to see his attacker, caught sight of Lindsay’s hair, and cursed himself for forgetting that she was there. Matt had gotten back to his feet by now, and had thrust his sword into the gap in Ryan’s armor, drawing a small bit of blood. Ryan winced, instinctively curling in on himself to protect the wound, which only left him vulnerable from a cut from Jeremy’s blade, this one on the back of his knee. He struggled to keep his legs from buckling, blocking another strike and straightening up, only to have something very solid and very heavy slam into him, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground. A foot was placed on his chest, forcing him to stay down, and the tip of a sword was pressed against the hollow of his throat and he froze, looking up at his new attacked, only to see Jack standing over him. Ryan swallowed, his Adam’s Apple bobbing.

“I didn’t know you were going to fight me too,” he said, licking his lips. Jack stepped up off him and sheathed his sword, offering Ryan a hand.

“That was your mistake,” he said. “Never underestimate the enemy. They won’t fight fair.” Ryan nodded and took the hand, grunting as Jack helped him to his feet. He winced, turning to examine the wounds Jeremy and Matt had given him. “Can you continue?” Jack asked and Ryan nodded.

“I’d be a pretty bad warrior if I couldn’t,” he said. Jack nodded and stepped back, whistling to tell them to begin again.

Ryan was ready for them this time, focusing on using his superior bulk to knock Matt down almost instantly. He followed that up with a kick to the gut, winding Matt enough so that he wasn’t a concern. Once he no longer had to worry about Matt he turned to face Lindsay and Jeremy, blocking their blows with both his sword and an armored forearm. He was proud to say he lasted much longer this time, not even being caught off guard when Jack entered the fray, but they still managed to overtake him. By the time Jack told them all to break for lunch Ryan was sore, bloody, and exhausted.

“Not bad,” Jack said, patting Ryan on the back. “After lunch we can practice fighting in pairs. That may be easier. Or harder, depending on who you’re paired with.” Ryan nodded, waiting for his breathing and heart-rate to return to normal before he spoke.

“Can I be paired with Lindsay?” He asked. Since he had arrived at the castle he had noticed that he was getting along best with her. She would visit the stables regularly, usually looking for one of the castle’s many cats, and she always tried to engage him at dinner, no matter how boring his day had been. And besides, Ryan had noticed that Matt and Jeremy worked well together, and he figured they’d be a harder pair to beat than Lindsay and one of them. Jack looked as though he was thinking it over, no doubt thinking of whether or not Jeremy and Matt as a pair would be too difficult.

“Alright,” he said. “One fight with you paired with Lindsay, and we’ll see how that goes. If you’re not ready, I’m pairing you with Matt or Jeremy. Understood?” Ryan nodded.

“Understood, Jack,” he said.

——–

After lunch they began again, this time Lindsay and Ryan against Matt and Jeremy. With Lindsay helping him Ryan managed to hold out faster than when it had been the three of them and Jack against only him, but even still the fight was rough and they ended up losing. There was something about Matt and Jeremy that made them an impressive force, almost like they could predict each other’s moves before they occurred. To Ryan’s shame they had managed to take him out before going after Lindsay, who held her own for much longer. Afterwards Ryan was sure that Jack would force him to fight with either Matt or Jeremy, but apparently Ryan hadn’t done as badly as he had thought because Jack let the teams stay as they were. They sparred four more times, with Ryan getting better each turn until by the last him and Lindsay almost won. They hadn’t, but they had come so close that Ryan didn’t care that they had lost.

Ryan winced as he removed his armor, his body sore from various cuts and blows. Jack approached him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You did good,” he said. Ryan shrugged, letting his chest plat fall to the ground.

“I could have done better,” he said, though despite his words he smiled at the praise. “Hey, why are warriors needed so badly anyway? What exactly is going on?” Jack sighed and sat down on a log.

“We’re not sure,” he said. “All we know is that the Endermen, seemingly without any provocation, started attacking our kingdom. There’s always been issues here and there, and we’ve dealt with them, but never this organized and never in this amount. These aren’t just random attacks anymore from independent individuals. This is outright war.” Ryan frowned, pausing in the removal of his armor and sitting down next to Jack.

“And you don’t know why at all?” He asked, earning a head shake from Jack.

“It started a few months ago,” Jack said. “Maybe about a year, but I don’t think it’s been that long. It started with raids on our trade routes before moving on to attacks on villages. That’s when we officially started to get involved.”

“And they’re organized?” Ryan asked.

“Somewhat,” Jack replied. “Not as much as a human army, since Endermen seem to do better as guerrilla fighters, but they’re definitely organized. We’ve found plans here and there, though translating them are difficult. From what we can tell they call their leader The Mage, but we don’t know anything else. We’re working on it, though.” Jack stood up, grabbing his sword and putting it away. “Finish up. It’s almost time for supper.” Ryan nodded, Jack’s words swimming through his head.

Even at dinner he was distracted with what he had learned of the war, though he tried his best to hide it and comment here and there, either to correct Lindsay’s story or help her exaggerate it. The kingdom was in danger and they needed the help of every warrior they could manage, but Ryan was’t even close to helping as much as he could be. He was stronger than a human, strong enough to tear an Enderman apart, and that wasn’t even when he was in his real form. As a dragon he could torch armies, summon storms to defend the castle. He could provide aerial support for battles if Geoff asked him too.

Or he could work as a spy. If he changed into an Enderman he could figure out who The Mage was and where. He could end the war in an instant just by biting their leader in half.

But doing any of that would mean telling Geoff what he was, and he wasn’t ready for that. He didn’t think he ever would be ready. He had no way of knowing how Geoff would react, how anyone would react. They could kill him for being a monster or chain him up like a dog. Both thoughts made his stomach do flips, and he forced himself to stop thinking about it and to finish eating, to pay more attention to what was going on around him. He could help them more as a dragon, but that was too great a risk, so he would instead help them the best he could as a human.


	11. New Moon

Finally, after what seemed to be a small eternity, the first full moon was upon them. Geoff had remembered Ryan’s request and had gave him the day off the second he showed up at the castle.

“Take a break, Buddy,” Geoff had said, offering him a friendly smile. “You’ve been working hard since you got here, you could use a rest.” It was as though an enormous weight had been lifted off of Ryan’s shoulders. Even with his nightly potions it had been growing harder and harder to keep his disguise up. His eyes would flash back to their draconic form and scales would pop up every now and then. He had managed to keep these slips hidden, but he desperately needed to change, and today was that day.

“Thanks Geoff,” Ryan had said to the king, his shoulders relaxing. “I’ve been feeling worn out lately. I can really use this day off.” Geoff laughed and patted his shoulder.

“That’s why I’m giving it to you,” he had replied. “Go do whatever the hell it is you need to do. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go talk to Jack about my crowns.” Geoff had left Ryan alone after that, and Ryan had gone directly into the woods, finding a quiet, solitary place where he could strip down and change. He took his clothes off and folded them neatly before hiding them in a hole in a nearby tree. He shivered as a gust of wind picked up, blowing against the think, fragile skin of his human disguise. He closed his eyes and breathed in for a moment before changing, just enjoying the brief moment of piece before he allowed his disguise to slip off and he changed back into a dragon and spread his wings for the first time in a while.

It was the most free he had been in a long time. His powerful heart beat in his chest and his tail swept groves in the ground. He had talons again, and horns and scales. He was tempted to kick off into the air, to soar through the kingdom on golden wings, but he fought that urge for fear of being spotted by someone. Instead he raced to the nearest river and dove in, breathing in the cool water with a content sigh. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed this, and for a moment he was incredibly tempted not to go back. To just stay this way for the rest of his life and never wear a human disguise again. But something in him felt uneasy about that plan, some part of him knew that if he never returned, if he vanished without a word, the others would worry. Would fruitlessly search for him. As much as he missed being free, truly free, he couldn’t do that to the kingdom that had taken him in without question. He would have to make the most of his monthly freedom instead, and find other joys as a human. Hunting and mining with his princes was enjoyable, as was training with the other warriors. Part of him even hoped that if he continued on this path he could become a knight. But for now he was just a dragon, and he was freer than he had been in a long time.

He followed the flow of the river until it came to a pond, enjoying the feeling of the current rushing over his scales. He snapped his jaws at passing fish, swallowing the tiny morsels whole with relish. They had a nice crunch and their tender flesh was the best he had tasted in a while, but he craved red meat. Craved something fresh and bleeding. It was this desire, primitive though it may be, that drove him out of the river and back into the forest, where he crept among the trees, staying low to the ground and smelling the air for prey, for deer or for boar.

His nose led him through the forest, and he relished the smells he hadn’t experienced in so long. He could smell the breeze blowing through the leaves and the dirt beneath his feet. He could smell the birds in their nests and the animals around him. He picked up the scent of a deer and followed it, keeping down wind of it and staying low, using the bushes to cover himself until he was withing attacking range of the deer. It was a young buck with small antlers, probably only having been an adult for about a year. He opened his jaws, crouched down low, and was about to lunge when a different scent hit his nose. Just as he identified the scent as a human an arrow drove itself into the buck’s neck, and the animal fell over dead. Ryan started, lifting up from his hiding place, and Ryan found himself looking down at Gavin.

The prince was in the process of taking his arrow from the deer but he froze when he saw the dragon, eyes wide. Ryan blinked for a moment before baring his teeth and growling, lifting up his wings to make himself appear larger. He didn’t want to fight Gavin, and while he didn’t think Gavin wanted to fight him either he couldn’t take the risk. It was better to scare The Lad away then let him be stupid enough to try and shoot at a dragon. Gavin let out an undignified, frightened squawk and dropped his bow, turning and running from the dragon and his kill. Ryan watched him leave, teeth still bared, before relaxing once the prince was out of sight. He paused for a moment, looking around and smelling the air for anyone else, before sheepishly lowering his head down and eating the deer. Surely Gavin had meant it for the castle, and if no one else was going to eat it Ryan might as well have it. Otherwise a pack of wolves or an unkindness of ravens may come and eat it instead. He licked his jaws clean once he had finished and headed back for his river, a new feeling of dread filling him.

Gavin had seen him. Gavin knew there was a dragon in the kingdom. It was unlikely that he had recognized Ryan, that he would know about what features he would have kept between forms, but he knew there was a dragon in the kingdom, and if he told the other that could lead to him being hunter. He shuddered at the thought, of spending is one day of freedom a month as a hunted animal. And if he told them, and someone in the castle knew the trick, what then? Would they kill him then and there, without letting him explain himself? The thought made his blood run cold, and he forced it from his mind as he slipped back into the water, forcing himself instead to focus on the sensation of swimming through the river.

———-

The next day he returned to his job at the castle as though nothing had happened. No one asked him what he had done, just asked if he had had a nice break. He went about his training with Jack, ate lunch, and even helped Kerry out in the stables without so much as peep about a dragon. At least, not until dinner.

“Guys I’m serious!” Gavin said, earning a groan from everyone else in the room. Ryan frowned, sitting down with Lindsay and Kerry.

“What’s going on with Gavin?” Ryan asked, dreading the answer because he knew what it was going to be before he asked.

“Gavin claims he saw a dragon,” Lindsay said, and Ryan felt a cold trickle of fear pool in his belly.

“I did see a dragon!” Gavin shouted. “It was big and gold and had blue eyes! It tried to attack me!”

 _I did not_ , Ryan thought, his breath catching in his throat. _I didn’t try to attack you I only roared._

“If a dragon tried to attack you why are you here?” Ray asked “Instead of, I don’t know, inside of a dragon?”

“I ran away before it could do anything ya sausage,” Gavin said, glaring at his brother before turning to Ryan, who felt like his heart was going to hammer its way out of his chest. “You believe me, don’t you Rye? You were out doing stuff yesterday, you must have seen it too.” Ryan swallowed thickly and put on an easy smile, shrugging.

“I didn’t see anything, Gav,” he said, feeling only the slightest bit guilty about lying to the prince. “Are you sure it wasn’t just a large lizard?”

“It wasn’t a lizard!” Gavin said, sounding betrayed that no one believed him. “It was large enough to swallow me whole and had wings. It was one of those Greater Drakes. I’m telling you I saw a dragon!” Geoff was just doubled over laughing hard enough to bring tears to his eyes as Gavin became increasingly red in the face.

“Sure you did, Buddy,” he said, patting the princes back. “Tell you what, I’ll have the knights keep an eye out for any scary dragons flying around. How’s that?” Gavin huffed, knowing the king was mocking him, and despite knowing it was a joke himself Ryan’s stomach flipped at the thought of people searching for him. The thought of being hunted by the same people who called him friend. The thought stuck with him through dinner, and even on the walk home, where to calm himself down he climbed into the hole with Edgar and rubbed her snout until his heart stopped pounding. He had a month to go before the next new moon, and he prayed everyone would have forgotten about this by then.


	12. Dragon Problem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter focusing more heavily on Jack and Geoff now. Hope you like it and as always leave a review.

A few days after the new moon Jack found Geoff sitting alone in the library, numerous books about Dragonkin opened before him. Shaking his head he walked over, placing his own lantern down next to the slowly dying one of his king.

“Don’t tell me you actually believe Gavin?” Jack said, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Geoff. “Do you really think he saw a dragon?”

“Gavin thinks he did,” Geoff said, rubbing his eyes. “I’m not so certain, but Gavin is convinced he saw a dragon. Which means he just might have.” Jack shook his head, glancing over the books opened before Geoff and picking one up.

“Gavin’s the only one who saw it,” he said as he flipped through the pages, catching bits and pieces of information. Notes about how dragons couldn’t change their scale and eye color, about how some could speak while others couldn’t. “No one else has reported a dragon in our kingdom before or since then.”

“Roosterteeth reported one,” Geoff said. “A big gold one. Which is exactly what Gavin described.” Jack frowned and nodded, stopping on a page that described a dragon’s ability to transform its shape.

“That was weeks ago,” he said. “If it does exist, and is the same one, where has it been in the meantime?”

“I don’t know,” Geoff confessed. “But if there is a dragon, what are we going to do about it. Gavin said it attacked him, and the one Burnie and Gus reported destroyed a barn. If it’s the same one, and I feel like it must be, since I can’t find evidence of a species that looks like that in any of these books, then it’s a violent one.”

“None?” Jack asked, grabbing the book about the different types. “You think it’s a single one? A hybrid, maybe?”

“Maybe,” Geoff said, rubbing his eyes some more. He had been staring at the books for hours, looking for some kind of answer. “Which could be worse for us, if we don’t know what it can or will do.”

“Gavin said it attacked him…” Jack started, trailing off for a moment. “But he wasn’t hurt at all. If a dragon attacked him, I’d expect something.”

“What do you mean?” Geoff asked, turning to his Hand.

“I mean I’m not sure if it did attack him,” Jack said. He placed the book down and picked up one about behavior. “It could have just done a threat display, to chase Gavin away from the deer. Scare him off so it could eat in peace. If we do have a dragon, and it’s an aggressive one, I feel like we would have seen more attacks. More destruction.” He handed Geoff the book, opened to the page about threats, and the king looked over the diagrams.

“Maybe,” he said, fixing his mustache. “In which case we may not need to do anything yet. I don’t want to have to kill the beast if it’s minding its just own business.”

That made enough sense to Jack. Dragons could be dangerous, but everyone knew they could think as well, even if they didn’t all have the right jaws and throats to speak. While he had never heard of anyone making a citizen out of a dragon, he didn’t doubt it may be possible, if done in the right way. Whatever way that may be.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Geoff said, leaning back in his chair and laughing to himself. “Part of me thinks Gavin is full of shit. You’re right, if there was a dragon in our kingdom someone would have spotted it by now. And what are the chances that Gavin of all people would be the first one to spot it. He can’t sneak up on a deaf deer, even if he is dressed like a creeper. There’s a chance he heard about the dragon from Roosterteeth and decided to have a bit of fun with us.”

“But the other part believes him,” Jack said. “Because if this was a joke he would have dropped it by now, and because he seemed more shaken an excited than giddy.”

“Exactly,” Geoff said. He sighed, looking at the books and scrolls in front of him before reaching for the book about The Dragon Wars. He hadn’t looked at this book in years, not since The Lads had lost interest in that lesson, yet now he felt as though it would be more useful to him than he ever could have expected. He flipped through the pages, past the history and the alliances until he reached the second part, the part which chronicled what the wars had taught them about fighting and killing dragons. “I want you to make me a weapon, Jack,” he said, showing his Hand a picture of a blue and black blade, crafted from diamond and obsidian. Jack looked at the picture, frowning.

“You’re going to kill it?” He asked. “But you just…”

“I’ll kill it if I have to,” Geoff said, setting the book down. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I want to be ready if it does. It’s living in my kingdom, I need to be the one to kill it. The Old Ways and all that.” Jack nodded, knowing what his king meant. A king had to act as an executioner, because he was the one who had sentenced the condemned to death.

“You’ll have your sword,” Jack said. “It may take a while, but you’ll have it.”

“I want you to start carrying your axe as well,” Geoff said. “I think it will be of more use against a dragon than your sword.” Jack smiled, thinking of his overly large battle axe.

“I think I can manage that,” he said. “But for now I think you’ve spent enough time in the library. The Lads want you to take them mining.” Geoff sighed but smiled none the less.

“Alright,” he said, getting up. “I’ll show those assholes how to mine.”

———

Ryan’s heart was in his throat as he hid around the corner, watching as Jack and Geoff left the library. He could hear his blood pumping in his ear and his heart racing in his chest. He hadn’t meant to spy on their conversation, it truly had been an accident that he had overheard them when passing by the door, but when he heard them discussing the dragon, discussing _**him**_ , he couldn’t help himself. And now he knew. They intended to kill him.

Sure, Geoff had mentioned not wanting it to come to that, but the fact that h was having Jack construct him a sword meant he expected it to. Part of him wondered if he shouldn’t just confess then and there; admit to what he was and throw himself at Geoff’s mercy. Wondered if he would be spared for telling the truth or punished for having lied for this long. In the end he stayed hidden, taking the coward’s way out and just vowing that next time he wouldn’t be seen. Promised himself he’d stay in the river this time, not risk the forest. It was far from ideal, but the other option was to flee, and he liked the castle too much to do that. Staying was certainly riskier, but he would miss everyone if he left, and he liked to think that they would miss him as well.

No, he would stay and just be more careful about it. Geoff wouldn’t get the chance to use his sword, nor Jack his axe. They would never know what Ryan was.


	13. The One In The Hole

The days following Jack and Geoff's talk found Ryan more anxious about spending time around the castle, though he tried to hide it. He feigned illness, and luckily he was still shaken enough to look sick in Geoff's eyes. When he was in the castle, he forced himself not to think about how Jack was down in the forge, crafting a weapon meant to kill him should Geoff decide that course of action was needed.

Of course, his odd behavior hadn't gone unnoticed by those around him, and The Lads decided to take matters into their own hands to make Ryan feel better.

"So what do you think is wrong with him?" Ray asked as they headed towards Ryan's dirt house.

"He said he's sick," Michael said. "Which is why we're bringing him the chicken." Said chicken was furiously flapping about in Gavin's hands, trying to break free.

"Should we make it soup first?" Ray asked.

"Nah, X-Ray, we don't know if he likes soup," Gavin said. "But we've know he likes chicken, so we're bringing him one of those." Ray shrugged, figuring that made enough sense. If Ryan wanted soup then they could always make him soup there.

When they reached Ryan's house he wasn't home, so they figured they would go wait inside for him. When they entered the house, however, they all startled when they saw Edgar in the hole. Gavin squawked and jumped, letting go of the chicken, while Ray just froze, confused, and Michael started cursing.

"What is he doing in here the sick fuck?!" He asked, looking down at the cow who just looked up at him before bending her head down to chew on some hay Ryan had left for her.

"He..what..what?" Ray said. "He put Edgar in a hole?"

"Bloody mentalist," Gavin added.

"Gavin we've told you, that word doesn't mean what you think it does," Michael said before turning back to Edgar. "What the fuck? Who keeps a cow in a hole?"

"Who keeps a cow in their house?!" Ray said. Gavin laid down on his stomach, beckoning Edgar towards him and petting her once she was close enough.

"We need to get her out," he said. "Before Ryan comes back and does more weird shit to her."

"He already put her in a hole," Ray said. "What else can he do?" Thankfully neither Michael nor Gavin decided to answer that question.

"Maybe we can dig the hole out a little and she can climb out," Gavin suggested, handing both Michael and Ray each a shovel. They took the tools and all three of the princes began to dig, all the while Edgar just looked at them, slowly chewing her hay and occasionally nudging one of The Lads, since they were now taking up space in her hole. Once they had dug a ramp of sorts all three of them got behind Edgar and started to push, barely making any progress as Edgar stayed where she was, still eating her hay.

"She doesn't want to leave," Michael said in disbelief. "She wants to stay in the hole." They all frowned at the cow until Ray grabbed some of the hay and held it in front of her, beckoning the cow to follow him. She let out a low moo and followed, walking up the makeshift ramp and following Ray out of the house. Once outside Michael closed the door and grabbed the hay from Ray, tossing it into the woods and watching as Edgar took off running after it. Once she was gone The Lads looked around and took off running before Ryan could find them, completely forgetting that they had left their chicken in his house. They paused for a moment to catch their breath, giggling to themselves.

"How long until Ryan notices?" Ray asked, smiling.

"How long until I notice what?" A voice asked from behind them, causing them all to jump and spin around, where they say Ryan standing there, an hoe over his shoulder.

"Nothing," Gavin said. "Just some changes to the castle. There's more roses now." He paused for a moment before speaking again. "Where have you been, Rye?" He asked, trying to distract Ryan from his original question. "You haven't been at the castle for a while."

"If you're sick you should be in bed," Michael added. Ryan frowned and nodded.

“I know,” he said. “I was feeling better today, so I decided to go grow some hay for Edgar. But I think I’m well enough to go eat dinner at the castle tonight.“ The Lads beamed at this, nodding and not noticing Ryan’s lie..

“We can show you the roses before we eat,” Ray said. “Though some are yellow, so we should burn those.“ Ryan laughed at that.

“We can ask Jack,” he said. “But that sounds like fun. I’ll see you tonight.“

“See you, Rye,” Gavin said, and as soon as the man was out of sight the lads took off running again, excited.

\--------

Ryan did end up going to dinner, though not once did he mention Edgar. He hadn't mentioned the cow while being shown the flowers, he hadn't mentioned her while helping to burn the yellow ones, he hadn't mentioned the cow as they all sat down to eat. The Lads shared glances with one another, confused, but decided that maybe Ryan had just gone back to farming when they left then headed straight for the castle afterwards.

"How's Edgar?" Gavin asked, earning him a brief glare from Michael and Ray.

"Edgar's good," Ryan said, continuing to eat the soup Geoff had had made for him. "I was thinking of bringing her back to the castle with me tomorrow. Let her spend time with the other cows."

"Ever think of building a fence for her?" Ray asked. "Around your house so she can wander around without getting lost?" Ryan just shrugged.

"She likes the house just fine," he said. Michael bit his lip before slamming his fist against the table and standing up.

"You kept her in a fucking hole!" He shouted, startling the other man. Ryan blinked at him for a moment as everyone else in the dining hall stopped talking and turned towards the prince.

"Who's Ryan keeping in a hole?" Geoff asked, not sounding nearly as concerned about that sentence as he should. Sitting next to him Jack just looked resigned more than anything else.

"Edgar!" Gavin said. "We went into his house to bring him a chicken and we found Edgar in a hole."

"Shit we left the chicken behind," Ray said. "RIP Conrad The Second."

"Creepy motherfucker," Geoff muttered, walking over and looking at Ryan. "But I guess she is his cow, so he can keep her in a hole if he wants."

"Geoff what the fuck?" Jack asked, coming over as well. "How does that make any sense?"

"Edgar is perfectly happy in her hole," Ryan assured everyone. "I can show you after dinner."

"Alright," Geoff said. When dinner finished Ryan did lead everyone back to his house, and Geoff couldn't help but notice The Lads giggling among themselves.

"What did you three do?" He asked, already smiling beneath his mustache.

"We set Edgar free," Gavin said. "Ryan must not have noticed yet." Geoff started laughing himself, more of a wheezing sound as he was trying to keep quiet and not give away The Lad's prank.

When they reached the house Ryan opened the door and motioned for everyone to step inside. “She’s right in there,“ he said. Michael walked inside and immediately was struck dumb, as were Ray and Gavin, the former was only able to repeat ‘huh‘ while the latter was stuck making confused noises. Laying in her hole, which now has a glass ceiling, was Edgar, who happily munched on some apples that Ryan must have given her. Michael briefly noticed that the chicken was in a glass cage as well, but he was too focused on Edgar to care. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Ryan’s smirk, and immediately rounded on the man.

“You son of a bitch Ryan,“ he said, right as the man started laughing, by far the most sinister sound Michael had ever heard come out of the man. “You son of a bitch.“

“You mean we didn’t get to see his reaction?“ Gavin asked, sounding both outraged and crestfallen. Geoff had started to snicker along with Ryan, and Jack looked between everyone, confused.

“I set Edgar free in the middle of the afternoon and Ryan went and found her again!“ Michael exclaimed, causing The Hand to start laughing as well. “You sick bastard!“

“So you saw that she was gone and repaired it before coming to the castle?” Gavin asked. Ryan nodded, his laughter subsiding.

“I had to go get wheat,“ he explained, “and lead the cow back to my place.”

“So wait is that actually Edgar or did you just find a random cow?” Michael asked, holding out hope that Edgar could still be free. Ryan frowned and looked down at the cow, who looked back up at him with familiar eyes.

“Yup,” he said. “Edgar’s the one in the hole.“ His choice of words only made everyone laugh even more, since it had come out as far more ominous than he had intended.

“Fuck dude,“ Ray said. “Dude if I end up in the hole I’m Edgar.” Everyone else started to laugh even harder at this, even Ryan.

“Nah,“ he said. “I like you better out of the hole.“

“Why is she in the hole to begin with?“ Jack asked, eyes going wide with disbelief. They had all noticed Ryan could be odd, but this was something else entirely.

“She wouldn’t stop breaking the bed!” Ryan argued. “And she likes her hole.“ Everyone looked, and the cow did seem content. Geoff simply shrugged.

“She’s your cow,“ he repeated. He looked outside and frowned. “And the sun is setting. We should all head back to the castle.“ Ryan nodded, waving as the left. Michael shot him an ‘I’m watching you‘ gesture, but the smile on the prince’s face told Ryan not to take it too seriously.

Once they were gone he sank onto his bed and relaxed, some of the tension he had been feeling from the previous days leaving him. He was still unnerved that Geoff would soon have a sword made specifically to kill him, but it helped to be reminded that the castle still saw him as one of them, even if he did trap cows in holes.


	14. The Old Ways

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter brought you by the letters G, O, and T, and has been paid for by Walder Frey. Just remember, The North Remembers.

Ryan knew that being a warrior to King Geoff would be an eventful job. But he hadn't expected it to be so eventful so soon. One night, when Ryan would normally have just returned to his home to sleep, a guard fell ill, and for reasons he wasn't entirely sure of Ryan volunteered to take the man's place. The work wasn't too bad, at least not at first. All he needed to do was stand watch over the hall he was assigned to, either just by standing in one place and looking around or by pacing up and down the hall. Ryan opted to do both, walking about when he was feeling restless and staying put when he grew tired. His heart was pounding with excitement, because even though this job wasn't difficult it was his first real job as Geoff's warrior. Even when he was standing in one spot he would bounce on the balls of her feet, rocking back and form with a grin on his face. After worrying about Geoff's new sword it was nice to be reminded that Geoff thought of him only as one of the castle's staff, as someone the king could trust. So even though the job was easy Ryan would do it with pride. Because Geoff had asked him to.

If only it had stayed easy.

Ryan had started to dose off when he heard someone sneaking through the hall adjacent to his. Drawing his sword he crept towards the hall, trying to stay as silent as he could in his armor. Sticking close to the shadows he peaked around the corner and noticed a man in a cloak sneaking through the halls. Ryan raised an eyebrow, momentarily confused. It didn't look like anyone he had seen about the castle, though admittedly he didn't know everyone who worked in the castle. But if they were part of the staff, why would they be sneaking around in a disguise. It was then he noticed a flash of something in the man's hand. A dagger. A jolt went up his spine and his eyes narrowed as he watched the man continue on his path towards Geoff's chambers.

There were still many things Ryan didn't understand about humans, though he was a fast learner. When he had first came to the castle he wouldn't have understood what was happening, but he knew better now. Humans fought amongst themselves, and kings weren't always popular, even when they were as good as Geoff.

This man was an assassin.

Ryan's first instinct was to rush the man. To run him clean through with his sword. But he remembered what Geoff had told him after he had slain the Enderman, and though this opponent was human he kept the king's words in mind. Take him alive. Ryan stayed behind the man, creeping slowly towards him. Really it wasn't any different from hunting a deer or a boar out in the forest, where he would need to keep his scales from scraping against each other and making too much noise. But even the best hunters would have a stroke of bad luck, and by chance the assassin looked towards Ryan right as the warrior passed in front of a torch. Realizing he was spotted, the assassin turned and fled.

"Guards!" Ryan shouted before giving chase. He couldn't let the man escape. The dragon's stamina gave him an edge, and even as the assassin started to tire Ryan was still able run. But there was something to be said about fear, and the man managed to reach the exit of the castle before Ryan could reach him. Thankfully, for Ryan at least, the guards positioned at the entrance managed to grab the assassin.

"Ryan?" One of them asked. "What's wrong?" Ryan slowed down, skidding to a stop with some difficulty, and panted, trying to catch his breath.

"I think he's an assassin," he told them. "I saw him sneaking through the halls with a dagger. He was heading towards Geoff's quarters." The guards nodded, moving to bring the man to the dungeon.

“Return to your post,“ one of them said. “You can report this to Geoff in the morning.” Ryan gave them a nod before heading back to his hall, though this time he made sure to check Geoff’s quarters regularly as well.

\---------

The next day, after the man was questioned and tried, it was decided that he was guilty of treason, attempted regicide, and conspiring against the crown. The sentence for these crimes, Ryan learned, was death by beheading. Which was fair, the man had tried to murder Geoff, but the sentence still put Ryan on edge. It made him nervous. He was reminded of the sword Geoff had commissioned just to kill him, and now he knew Geoff would have a reason for it. After all, lying to the king was treason, wasn't it? And he had been lying to Geoff since he got there.

The mood in the castle was definitely heavier after the sentence. From what Ryan could tell, both from what he had seen of Geoff and heard from others, executions were rare. Geoff didn't like killing men when he didn't have to. Jack seemed intent on ignoring what would happen, instead choosing to focus on his work around the castle and not the ensuing bloodshed. The Lads, or at least Michael, seemed interested, but apparently were not allowed to watch. And Geoff...

Geoff was readying his blade, because as Ryan had learned Geoff personally executed everyone found guilty and condemned to death in his kingdom.

Ryan paced in front of the throne room, wondering whether or not he really wanted talk to Geoff. He should have left it alone, but something didn’t feel right about this whole thing. Geoff had never struck him as bloodthirsty, even when he had heard him and Jack planning his death the king had seemed more reluctant than anything else. So why then was Geoff alone the one in charge of executing the condemned?

Finally Ryan managed to work up enough nerves to go in and ask Geoff. He figured he was new enough to the kingdom for it so seem odd, and he hoped that it wasn’t a well known human custom that he had missed. The thought that he was about to give himself away was enough to make him freeze for a moment, but Geoff had seen him by then and motioned for Ryan to come sit by his side. The king was sitting at the foot of his throne, a long, diamond blade in his hand, sharpening the weapon.

“Hey Buddy,” Geoff said, pausing in his work as Ryan sat down. “You did a good job last night.“ Ryan nodded, trying to force himself to relax. Geoff noticed, and the friendly smile the king had been wearing slipped away. “Something wrong?“

“Not...really...” Ryan said, trying to figure out how to put it. “Just a little unnerved by the execution. And...sort of confused.“ Geoff’s frown deepened.

“He would have killed me,” he said. “And probably The Lads too if he had the time.“

“I know that,” Ryan said, holding his hands up in surrender. He didn’t want Geoff to think that he supported letting the man go. “I’m not confused about him being executed, I’m confused about why you’re the one doing it.“ Geoff sighed and placed his sword off to the side before turning to look at Ryan.

“It’s called The Old Ways,” Geoff said. “A long time ago, kings were more noble. Being a ruler meant something. And in those days, a king was in charge of executing the criminals, not some hired killer.”

“Why?” Ryan asked, his eyes straying to the sword at Geoff’s side. He had remembered Geoff mentioning The Old Ways when he had asked Jack for his sword, but he hadn’t known what they were. Now it seemed they just meant that Geoff would murder Ryan himself if this all fell through.

“Because the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword,” Geoff told him. “If you would take a man’s life, you owe it to that man to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bare to do that, then maybe that man does not deserve to die.“ There was something oddly reassuring about that, about the knowledge that Geoff wasn’t killing the man just because he wanted to, but rather because doing it otherwise would cheapen the act. “Want my advice?” Geoff asked, placing a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “Don’t watch. I don’t like making spectacles of it.” Ryan nodded, staying put as Geoff took his sword and walked out of the room.

Ryan did end up watching, though he made sure to stay out of sight of Geoff. The blow was clean, and the man lost his head in only one strike. But it still left Ryan feeling uneasy. A dragon’s hide and muscle was thicker than that of a man’s, and even if Geoff had every intention of making it a clean kill he could fail. He probably would fail. And a dragon’s words and eyes were too alien to earn any sort of mercy.


	15. Digging a Deeper Hole

Geoff must have noticed that Ryan was still tense around the castle, though the dragon was trying his hardest to relax. He just wanted things to go back to how they were, before Gavin had spotted him, before he had heard Jack and Geoff talking, before the execution. If there had been more space between them he could have handled it better, but it was all too much to happen in under a month. The next New Moon was growing closer, and while Ryan should have been looking forward to the chance to be free once more he wasn't. He was dreading it, because there was the ever constant dread in the back of his mind that someone else would discover him. Someone who wouldn't be as easily frightened as Gavin. He considered skipping it entirely, but that didn't seem an option either. The fatigue of staying changed was weighing on him, and if he didn't change during the New Moon he could very well change at another time, when he didn't have a choice and when people would see him change. He couldn't risk missing that day, no matter how much he dreaded its approach. He would just have to be more careful this time, stay further away from the castle and stay in the river. They wouldn't be able to find him if he never left the water.

Ryan was trying his hardest to relax, but he was doing a horrible job at it. Geoff noticed at once that his newest guard seemed shaken and pale, his eyes wide and his skin taking on a damp and almost translucent quality. He was worried Ryan may be sick, if not in the body than perhaps in the mind, and thought perhaps the stress of the new work was weighing too heavily on the man. Once he had a lull in his own duties Geoff slipped out of his study and tracked Ryan down, finding the man standing alert and tense in front of the bath.

"Gavin's in there," Ryan said, noticing the odd look Geoff was giving him. "I figured that after the assassin someone should stand watch." Geoff shrugged and placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"I'm sure Gavin can at least bathe himself without dying," he said, gently guiding Ryan away from the baths. "But I want to know about you. You seem...off..lately." Ryan tensed at these words and swallowed hard, causing Geoff to frown.

"Off?" He asked, wetting his lips. Geoff couldn't know, there wasn't anyway he could have known. "What do you mean?"

"You seem stressed," Geoff said, letting go of Ryan's shoulder and stepping back, concern in his eyes. "I know you're a good fighter, Jack talks about your training, but if this job isn't right for you I can put you back in the stables with Kerry. You seemed happier working with him than you do as a guard. You're on edge a lot more, and you look ill. If this work isn't agreeing with you, I don't want to force you to do it." Ryan relaxed a bit, realizing his secret was still safe.

"It's just been a lot, y'know?" He said, sitting down on the stone floor and looking up at Geoff. "A lot has happened between the assassin and the dragon. I wasn't expecting so much so soon."

"Well the assassin's been taken care of," Geoff said, sitting beside Ryan. "I'm sorry it had to happen, but it's in the past and I think we should try to move on. And I don't want you worrying about any dragon. First of all, we don't even know for sure that there is a dragon. Secondly, even if there is a dragon I'm not going to make you fight it. I'd rather not fight it at all if I don't have to." It was a reassuring thought, that Geoff didn't want to fight Ryan if he didn't have to. And it should have calmed him, because Ryan had no intention of forcing Geoff's hand. But his secret still weighed on him, no matter how many times he tried to assure himself it would be alright.

"How about this?" Geoff said, standing up. "I'm going to head into town, to relax for the rest of the day. King needs a guard, so why don't you come with me? It will do you some good to get off the castle grounds. What do you say, you want to come?" Ryan looked up at Geoff before nodding and standing up, smiling a little.

"I think I could manage a trip into town," he said. "It would be nice to get out of this castle and not just to go home to a cow." Geoff laughed at the last part, his rich calming laugh that put Ryan a bit more at ease.

"Let me get changed and then we can head off," Geoff said. "Meet me in the stables." Ryan nodded and headed down to the stables while Geoff went to his quarters.

\---------

The trip to the town was a peaceful one, with Geoff mounted atop Mystery and Ryan walking by his side, dressed in a rather modest bit of armor with a iron sword at his hip.

"You know you really don't need all that," Geoff said, motioning to Ryan's armor and weapon. "We're just heading into town." Ryan shrugged, reaching up a hand to rub Mystery's neck. Geoff had told him he could take any of the horses he wanted, but ever since he had stopped working in the stables they had been getting increasingly nervous around him, as though they had forgotten him. So Ryan had declined the offer, opting to walk instead.

"It makes me feel better," he said. "That way, if something does happen, I'm ready for it."

"Paranoid mother fucker," Geoff muttered under his breath, a smile on his lips. He was quiet for a moment, looking Ryan over, before he started speaking again. "You know I've been wondering about you." Ryan stopped for a split second and looked up at Geoff, who pulled Mystery to a halt.

"Me?" He asked, trying to sound as though that was the most absurd thing he had ever heard. As though wondering about him was madness.

"Yeah," Geoff said. "You're a great guy, don't get me wrong, and you're great with The Lads and the rest of the court, but I don't really know much about you other than that me and Jack found you alone in the woods with a cow. You're a mystery past that." He dragged out the word 'mystery' the same as he would have with his horses name, maybe to ease some of the tension. "You don't have to tell me anything if it's bad, but I'd like to get to know you." There it was, Ryan had an out. He could just tell Geoff his past was rough and the king would drop it. Wouldn't bring it up again. But Ryan could tell Geoff wanted something, and since the truth wasn't an option Ryan did what he was doing a frighteningly lot of lately. He lied.

"I'm not from your kingdom," he said as they continued on their way. It wasn't a lie, not technically. But the details he needed to fill out sure as hell would be. "I'm from across the sea, far away. Not too long ago I decided to leave home, set out and do my own thing. So I paid for a ride on a boat to this land and tried to find some work. Didn't work too well, people seemed hesitant to hire an outsider, but I managed to get enough money together to buy Edgar." Edgar had become such a fixture in his life he was sure that anyone would expect he had owned the cow her whole life, and not for less than three months. "After that me and her just sort of wandered for a bit. I found shelter where I could and sold her milk until you and Jack found me." Ryan wet his lips, hoping Geoff would believe his lie.

"What kingdom are you from?" Geoff asked, looking at Ryan. Ryan froze for a moment, trying to come up with a name for a kingdom, trying to think of what far off lands he had heard of in his youth.

"Jorgia," he offered, not sure if that place existed or if he had made it up.

"Jorgia, huh?" Geoff asked, working the name through in his head. "Alright. I think I've heard of that place. Island, right?" Ryan nodded.

"Right," he said. "Hence the boat."

"What kingdom did you land in?" Geoff asked, not giving Ryan the chance to pause. Once more Ryan struggled to come up with a name, this time forced to use one he had seen on a map.

"Remnant," he said, hoping Geoff would buy it. The king scoffed and nodded.

"Fucking hellhole," he said. "Full of these weird shadow monsters. No wonder people snubbed you." Ryan's shoulders relaxed and he nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "Glad I got out of it." They were near enough to the town now where Ryan could see the buildings, out of the forest and past the fields of wheat. He made a move to go to it but was stopped by Geoff suddenly placing Mystery between the warrior and his destination. Ryan stopped and looked up at Geoff, confused.

"You know," Geoff said, his usually sleepy eyes suddenly serious. "If there's something you need to tell me, you can tell me. I'd rather hear an unpleasant truth than be lied to." Ryan's heart skipped a beat in his chest and his mouth went dry as he just looked at Geoff, unsure what to do. Part of him screamed to just tell Geoff, to show Geoff, and accept whatever consequences there may be. To explain himself and throw himself at Geoff's mercy. Another part of him wanted to deny every lying, because he knew what humans did to his kind, knew what fate befell dragons who ended up in the hands of kings. Geoff frowned, noticing Ryan's sudden anxiety. "Just tell me this," he said, "and answer me honestly. Are my boys in danger? I don't give a shit about anything else, I don't care who you are or what you've done, but will The Lads be in danger around you."

"I swear on my life," Ryan said, "that I am not, nor will I ever be, a danger to those boys." And for the first time in a while he was being completely honest. He could lie to a king, lie to everyone he knew, about what he was, but he would never be a danger to The Lads. He'd give his life for them, even if they didn't know what he was. Even if they would surely think him a monster if they did. Geoff nodded, moving Mystery out of the way.

"That's all I care about," he said as they continued into town.

\----------

“So what about you?” Ryan asked, sitting across from Geoff at in a tavern. Geoff’s questions had left him shaken, but from what he could tell Geoff’s thoughts were more in line with assassin or thief than with dragon, and once this became clear Ryan relaxed. Geoff had too many mundane things to worry about to go around accusing people of being magic. And for that Ryan was grateful.

Geoff sighed and leaned back, thinking. “What do you mean?“ He asked.

“Well you asked me about my past,” Ryan said. “What about yours?“ Geoff sighed again and went quiet, thinking.

“I used to be a knight for The Kingdom of Tehaz,” he said. “Me, Gus, and Burnie were three of the best knights that kingdom ever had. Until we turned traitor and left.“

“Why did you leave?” Ryan asked, leaning in and trying to picture Geoff as a knight. And as a traitor. The former left a better image in his head, though maybe Geoff would be more forgiving about the dragon thing since he was a traitor himself once.

Geoff just shrugged at Ryan’s question, looking a bit uninterested. “We got bored,“ he confessed. “We heard there was unclaimed lands over the mountains and left for some of our own. Wanted to see if we could build something as great as Tehaz.“

“And?” Ryan asked. He knew about Achievement Kingdom, and in Ryan’s mind it was great, but he hadn’t met any Gus or Burnie, so something must have happened to them along the way.

"We made a kingdom," Geoff said with a grin, "named it Roosterteeth, and the three of us ruled it as kings. Great kingdom too. Loved the place. It's where I met Jack." He must have seen the confusion on Ryan's face, because he continued. "But while Burnie and Gus were fine, I was still restless. So I took some of the land for myself, took some loyal warriors with me, Jack included, and started to unite the lands surrounding my fragment into a new kingdom. Achievement Kingdom."

"Gus and Burnie were fine with that?" Ryan asked. "They didn't care?"

"Nah," Geoff said. "We're close allies, so me starting my own kingdom basically doubled the land all three of us could rule. They rule one half, I rule the other, we call it two different things. It works. Only problem is we can't always help each other out during a war, like what's been happening with the Endermen."

 _I could help, if I wasn't a coward,_ Ryan thought ruefully, taking a sip from his own drink before shivering at the bitter taste.

"Don't like it? Geoff asked, raising an eyebrow. He held out his hand and Ryan passed the mug over.

"It's not my thing," he said. "I think I'm going to grab some milk instead." Milk and other dairy was popular among dragons, for reasons even they didn't understand. Their females didn't lactate, their young didn't nurse, yet dairy was something they all seemed fond of, from the lowliest Serpent to the highest Drake.

"I've got it," Geoff said, motioning for one of the barmaids. "It's getting dark. Want to head back to the castle after this? Before the monsters start coming out?" Ryan nodded, turning to the barmaid as she approached them.

"What can I get for you?" She asked.

"Just some milk, please?" Ryan asked. He knew it was an odd request, but honestly it was the only thing he wanted at the time. The woman left to go get Ryan his drink, and once she returned and he had finished it Ryan and his king packed up and set back to the castle.


	16. Draconic Encounter

Keeping a castle up and running wasn’t easy, especially when it came to supplies. Stone was needed for repairs, hay and wheat were needed to feed the animals and the staff, ore was needed to make armor and weapons, coal was needed to stoke the furnaces, and wood was needed to build all manner of things. The staff of the castle were able to take care of most of these, but every so often Jack decided to step in and handle some of it himself. Being The Hand was a busy job, but he found blacksmithing and woodcutting relaxing, which was exactly why he was out in the forest a few hours before sunset cutting wood.

The sun was low in the sky, painting the sky a nice orange, and not a star nor the moon was visible. Jack sighed, wiping the sweat from his brow with an old rag as he paused in his work, leaning on his axe and taking a break. He glanced up at the sun, raising a hand to shield his eyes as he tried to see how much time he had before the sun would set and monsters would start to come out. Maybe enough time to finish cutting down this tree and move most of the logs, but he wouldn’t be able to get all of them in one go, that was certain. Placing the rag away, he lifted his axe up once more and continued to work on the tree, felling the rest of it with a few quick chops. Once it was all cut down, other than the stump, he began to cut the wood into transportable logs. Once he was satisfied with that, he started to load the logs into the cart, deciding to take the largest ones first before going back for the smaller ones tomorrow.

As he was loading the cart Jack heard the sound of something breaking the surface of the river behind him. He spun around and froze when he saw a sand colored dragon, almost certainly the same one Gavin had seen, swimming at the surface. The dragon saw him and its wings lifted up slightly, a growl tugging at its lips. Slowly Jack moved his hand to his axe, unhooking it from his back and holding it firmly with two hands. The dragon sank a bit in the water, still growling, and Jack realized in an instant that it was trying to frighten him off. If it wanted to attack him it could, but it wasn’t. Holding the axe a bit tighter he stepped forward, lifting the weapon in the hopes of frightening the beast away. It growled again, some smoke coming out of its nostrils, but after only a few steps it seemed to decide that attacking Jack wasn’t worth it. The dragon stopped growling and sank back into the water with a splash, the ripples on the surface indicating that it was swimming away. Jack watched it leave before replacing his axe and sitting back on his cart, patting Patches’ neck and thinking about what he had just seen.

The dragon could have attacked him but didn’t. And it was certainly large enough to do damage, even if Jack had his axe with him. The beast could have devoured him before he would have gotten the chance to use it. Yet it hadn’t done anything more than try and frighten him away. And thinking back to Gavin’s account, he was willing to bet that it had done the same with him as well. Frighten him off in order to risk the situation becoming more violent. Apparently, Jack hadn’t been as easily intimidated as The Lad, and so the dragon had decided to call the encounter off itself.

So Gavin was right, and there was a dragon in the kingdom. A rather large one too. But it hadn’t attacked anyone, even though it had the opportunity to. It seemed no more dangerous than any other animal in the kingdom, in fact it almost seemed less dangerous than some of them. The wolves and panthers attacked people from time to time, and even the livestock could be dangerous. A cow or boar could gore a man if angered, and horses could deliver a lethal kick. Yet despite the reputation of its species, the dragon didn’t seem interested in attacking anyone. Shaking his head to try and clear his thoughts, Jack finished loading up the wood and made his way back to the castle.


	17. Ask Me About My Dragon Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit shorter due to laptop and time issues. Sorry about that.

When he had returned to the castle Jack had told Geoff about the dragon he had seen in the forest, every last detail.

“It was the same one Gavin saw?” Geoff asked, frowning. Jack nodded, thinking back the encounter.

“I think so,” he said. “Unless we have multiple golden dragons in the kingdom.” Geoff laughed a bit.

“Alright,” he said, rising from his chair. “From what you’ve told me, it’s better than I expected. It doesn’t seem hostile, just willing to defend itself if it has to.”

“I think what Gavin called an attack was the dragon trying to frighten him away to avoid a fight,” Jack said. “It worked with Gavin, but it couldn’t bluff me so easily. So it fled instead.”

It was better than either of them had hoped for, when they had first heard that there was a dragon in the kingdom. They had feared the worst, expected some sort of monster breathing down hellfire upon them. But now it seemed as though all they had was a large carnivore, and one who wasn’t willing to start conflict with the humans who lived around it.

But even with it looking as good as it did, it wasn’t ideal, and now that there was a confirmed dragon in the kingdom their old plan alone wouldn’t do. They would need to let the warriors in on the issue, and form a larger, more well organized plan.

Once all of the warriors Geoff felt he could trust were assembled, including Ryan, Lindsay, Matt, and Jeremy, as well as many others, Geoff stood before them and sighed.

“There’s a dragon in our kingdom,” he said, waiting until the hushed whispers had died down to continue. “Jack has confirmed that it is a Greater Drake, golden in color, and probably at least partially aquatic, since he saw it coming out of the river.”

“Has it attacked anyone yet?” One of the warriors asked, only to have another reply “didn’t it attack Gavin?“ Geoff shook his head, looking at the both of them.

“I don’t think it did or has,” he said. “Jack, you saw the creature, you explain.”

“It’s a massive animal,” Jack started. “Fifty feet in length, I would bet. If it wanted to attack someone, either myself or Gavin, we wouldn’t be here right now. All I had to do was menace it with my axe and it left without a fuss.”

This seemed to calm nearly everyone down. A hostile dragon in the kingdom was cause for alarm, but if the creature was peaceful, or at least as peaceful as a dragon could be, then it was little more than an oddity. Maybe something to try and seek out, if only to learn more about the magnificent beasts.

Some still looked uneasy at the entire thing, though. Ryan was shuffling from foot to foot, and Lindsay looked hesitant. Stepping in front of Jack, Geoff spoke up once more.

“Does anyone have any concerns?” He asked, his eyes glancing towards Ryan and Lindsay. “If you do I want to hear them. I respect the input of my warriors.” Ryan didn’t say a word, but Lindsay did speak up.

“Why aren’t Michael, Gavin, and Ray here?” She asked, looking around. The Princes weren’t anywhere in the room, and once Lindsay pointed that out it gave everyone pause.

“I’m going to tell them in private,” Geoff said. “That is all you need to know.” He wasn’t about to imply his heirs were unworthy in front of his knights and soldiers, and they weren’t, but he knew them, and he knew this news may not be taken the best way.

Michael, despite everything, would want to fight it. Dragons were fairly rare in the Overworld, and there was little doubt in Geoff’s mind that his eldest Lad would want to test his abilities against one. To earn the right to call himself a Dragonslayer atop of everything else. Michael wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation.

Gavin would just be unbearable if he found out he had been right this entire time, and Geoff didn’t look forward to having to deal with that level of smugness, especially not in front of all his men.

Ray Geoff was less sure about. He could have zero interest in the dragon, or at least no more interest than everyone else. Alternatively, he could have more interest than anyone else, seeing it as a way to learn more about his powers. Dragons were skilled in the ways of magic, with some learned mages even going so far as to say they were the source of it, and Geoff dreaded to think about what could happen if Ray started to learn under the wings of a serpent. Magic could be dangerous, and magic could be unruly, and Geoff didn’t want to lose his youngest to it.

Lindsay didn’t seem satisfied with this answer, and Geoff couldn’t blame her given her close relationship with Michael, but everyone else in the room accepted the answer. “If there are no other questions,” Geoff said, pausing to see if there were any, “than you are dismissed.” They filed out of the room at that order, and once they were gone Geoff excused himself.


	18. War! What is it good for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be the last chapter for this story, since I figured that ending the way I did was a good place to end off. This universe will continue, just in a different story. Hey, it was either stop here of have this fic end up with 100 chapters. I figured this is more manageable.

As if having to deal with a potential dragon problem wasn’t enough, later that week The Endermen attacked. Not in a small raid or by sending an assassin, no. A full army of the creatures appeared in a field near the castle, heavily armed and ready for war. It was everything Geoff, and everyone else for that matter, had feared. When it was only raids and assassins it could be believed that some of the Endermen were just acting out. That isolated individuals or maybe a small group of them had become hostile. But now it was clear that this was war.

Ryan was wavering between excitement and dread. The dragon in him, the side of him driven by basal instincts, longed for the battle, for the chance to prove his skills as Geoff’s warrior. But the more rational side of him knew that war meant death, more specifically death for people he knew. Geoff, Jack, or The Lads could die in the upcoming battle, as could Lindsay, Matt, or Jeremy. The second Ryan had heard the news he had gone down to the armory, intent on making sure his armor and weapons were in pique condition. It wouldn’t do to have something fail him on the battlefield.

Ryan wasn’t the only one who had had that idea, and the armory was full of people, of guards and knights, or squires and the miscellaneous warrior. Even Geoff and Jack were down there, as were the princes. Everyone was readying themselves for the upcoming battle. Geoff had made the plans clear. They would march through the night and meet the Endermen at dawn.

——-

The battle was just as rough as Ryan had been expecting it to be. Fighting creatures that could teleport if wounded, and while in human form, was proving difficult. Killing one was hard enough, but defeating an army seemed impossible. Achievement Kingdom at least had size on their side, and Ryan was pleasantly surprised to discover that The Lads, even Gavin, were proving themselves useful in the fight. Ray had even managed to cast a spell which had flooded much of the battle field, though the water did smell strongly of roses.

In the flurry of battle no one noticed that Ryan seemed too strong, too quick. Surely they must have just chalked it up to all those potions of strength that he drank and thought no more of it. Mostly they were probably just thankful to have him on their side.

Ryan surveyed the battlefield and a jolt when down his spine when he saw Geoff fighting off six Endermen at once and slowly losing. Ryan ran towards his king, his sword dripping foul enderblood onto the grass as he went. One of the Enderman struck forward with an obsidian dagger, catching the king in the gaps between his armor. Geoff cried out, turning towards the enemy and cutting the Enderman down, though it was clear that he was now struggling due to his injury. Ryan reached the group and lunged towards one of the Endermen, driving his sword into it. It dies with a gargling, horrible noise, failing to teleport away and off Ryan’s sword. Two down, four to go. Standing back to back with his king, Ryan lifted his sword, ready to defend his king to the last.

“Thank Buddy,” Geoff said, shooting Ryan a glance before turning back towards the Endermen surrounding them. Ryan’s heart raced in his chest and he flexed his fingers, angling his sword to either strike or defend. But then, before anyone could attack, a thunderclap roared out across the land. The Endermen looked towards the sky, distracted, and Ryan and Geoff saw the chance to attack. They each lunged, each one cutting down a distracted Enderman before turning on the other two. The remaining Endermen teleported away, along with the rest of the army. Geoff blinked, confused for a moment, until a raindrop landed right on his nose. The king blinked, looked up at the sky, and started laughing.

“That’s awesome as dicks,” he said, still cackling. He laughed for a bit before turning back to Ryan.

“Thanks Buddy,” he said. “You saved my ass back there.” Ryan bowed his head, sheathing his sword.

“It was nothing,” he started to say, but stopped when he saw Geoff shaking his head.

“It wasn’t nothing,” he said. “Kneel down, Ryan.” Ryan did as Geoff said, not quite understanding. Geoff lifted his sword and placed it down onto Ryan’s shoulder.

“Ryan,” Geoff started, “for helping to save my ass I’m knighting yours. You earned it, buddy.” Geoff took the sword back and sheathed it. “Now stand up, Asshole. Let’s get back to the rest of our troops.” Ryan rose, falling behind Geoff and thinking about how, while it wasn’t as formal as he would have expected, he was a knight. He laughed silently to himself, thinking of the absurdity of it all. A dragon as a knight.

**Author's Note:**

> Blog for this story is http://ryanthedragonminecraftau.tumblr.com/. Follow for updates and information about the world as a whole.
> 
> Comments are appreciated. If you see a typo let me know.


End file.
